Kid Nation
by LuvLife113
Summary: Forty Kids. Forty Days. Drama, Romance, Kisses, Laughs, Tears, Hugs, Fights. We have it all. Come and see it through Macy's eyes.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey! **

**So...I'm posting a new Kid Nation story. It's kind of the same...but it's better. I promise. **

**I've changed a _lotttt. _I almost wouldn't even compare the TV show to this...just the people. Vaguley. I changed a lot of their ages and personalities. I've also added two characters Macy (13) and Tosca (12). So yah, keep your eyes out. **

**Please review guys...and have fun reading! **

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><p><strong>Day One<strong>

Why did I sign up for this?

I look out the window of the seat I am sitting on, on the bus that will take me to Bonanza City, New Mexico. I'm sitting next to an eleven year old boy named Jared and frankly, he is bugging the crap out of me.

Apparently, he's some major super genius and all he's been doing this whole time is explaining to me about Pi. Fun…right? I think not.

We are driving in circles right now…I think it's because the camera people need to get shots for the show or something. I'm not really sure, but we've already been to our destination about three times.

There are a lot of kids on the bus. I didn't really notice many kids older than me. I know the oldest is a fifteen year old boy, and the youngest is an eight year old boy. So, because I'm thirteen, I don't think many kids will be older than me. Great…I get to deal with little kids for the next forty days.

"Do you know when we're gonna be there…" Jared pauses and looks up at me. I'm assuming her forgot my name, so I fill it in for him.

"It's Macy." I reply, looking down at the kid. He has short brown hair and a pair of major nerdy glasses.

"Right." He replies, giving me a thumbs up sign. I roll my eyes and look around the rest of the bus. A boy with shaggy blonde hair catches my eye and smirks at me. He's sitting a seat ahead of my and Jared, but it diagonal from us. He's sitting next to a little blonde girl and looks about as bored as I do.

"I think we're here!" A deep voice yells from the back of the bus. I smile to myself and grab my backpack which is sitting at my feet. Jared does the same and we anxiously await for the bus to stop.

When the bus finally stops, I push Jared and we're the first and second people out. I _really _needed to get out of that bus.

The host (I'm pretty sure his name is Jonathan) is standing in a clearing and I walk over there. The boy who I exchanged a look with is following right behind me and when the host tells us to stop, he's right at my side.

When Jonathan is talking to the camera people about something, the boy turns to me, "Hey." He says, looking over at me.

"Hey," I reply, shaking the hand he stuck out for me to shake, "I'm Macy."

"Michael."

"Cool."

Michael opens his mouth to say something, but we are cut off by Jonathan (Yeah, that's his name) giving us instructions and beginning to talk to us.

He talks for a little while…and then, about fifty yards away, a helicopter lands. Jonathan is calling them the "Town Council" but frankly…that sounds pretty pathetic.

The "Town Council" consists of a boy with glasses who is wearing a cowboy hat, a short girl with long brown hair, a girl with curly red hair, and an Indian boy.

And they all look _really _young. I mean, how come I wasn't chosen to be a leader? Gosh, these producers were unfair.

Jonathan then tells us that we need to go and carry all the crap we need for the next forty days on a mile walk towards Bonanza City. I let out a sigh and then begin to follow all the screaming little kids over to the supply pile.

A couple kids, probably around my age, have the same idea as me. Walk slowly and let the little kids get the heavy stuff. There are three girls and three boys. There is also me and Michael.

"Well," A girl with black hair and tan skin says, throwing her pack into a wagon that the little kids hadn't grabbed, "Anyone wanna help?"

I step forward, also throwing pack into the wagon, "Let's do it."

The other kids take over the rest of the stuff and Laurel and Mike lead us on our trip to Bonanza City, "So what's your name?" I say as we begin to walk.

"Natasha. Yours?"

"Macy."

"I'm assuming you're twelve…?"

"I'm actually thirteen," I say with a frown. Most people think I'm young because of my height. I'm only about 5'2 and while I might look like I'm thirteen, I'm not tall enough to be thirteen, "Are you fourteen?"

"Yup." She says, drawling out the 'P'. We continue having a small conversation on the rest of our trip. I find out Natasha and I are a lot alike…she's a really cool person in general. At least I'll have _one _normal person to talk to throughout this experience.

"Guys!" A voice screeches through all of us kids, "I see Bonanza City!"

Natasha and I exchange a look that reads 'This is going to be a long forty days' and then we continue to pull out wagon throughout the city, looking for someone who can tell us where we will put our wagon of canned goods.

Finally, I spot the redheaded leader with three girls trailing her around, "What's the red-head's name again?" I ask, looking over at Natasha.

She shrugs her shoulders and I look at her with a look of exasperation. Finally, I call out, "Hey! Leader-dude!"

She flips her head towards Natasha and me, and then slowly begins to walk over. The other girls follow her, "I have a name."She says in a heavy Boston accent.

"Which I forgot." I reply, holding up my hands in a defense position, "Sorry for being human."

She looks at me up and down and then rudely replies, "What do you want?"

"Just wanted to know where to put this…" Natasha butts in, motioning to the wagon of canned goods behind us.

"Go bring it to the kitchen." She says, walking away with her little posse.

I then turn to Natasha, "She's twelve. Why the hell is she talking to us like that?"

Natasha shrugs her shoulders in return as we dump the crap in the kitchen, "I have no idea. But sometimes, you have to deal with witchy people in life."

"Greatttt." I say, rolling my eyes. Natasha laughs in reply and we walk around the town, looking for an empty bunkhouse where we'll be able to sleep tonight since no one told us where to sleep.

We look into bunkhouse one, and see that it is full of a group of little boys. The next two bunkhouses are also filled with younger boys and their backpacks and the fourth bunkhouse had a neat little pile of pink backpacks. Obviously meaning that there is a group of girl's in that bunk. The fifth bunk has a backpack with the name _Laurel _on it and we immediately book it out of there, and the sixth bunkhouse…well we just don't like that one.

When we peep out heads into the seventh bunkhouse, we are met with a group of about six guys who all look to be teenagers.

"Sorry," Natasha says awkwardly, not meaning to disrupt them.

I peep my head in farther and see Michael in the group of boys, "Hey Michael." I say, waving. He replies with a 'Hey Macy' and then we leave the arguing group of boys.

By the time we reach the eighth bunkhouse, we're practically praying that there is room for us. Which there is. There are already three girls in there, but when we ask if anyone else is there they say no and warmly welcome us.

There is a thirteen year old girl named Migle. She seems nice enough, for all we know. And then there's a twelve year old girl named Randi whom Migle sat with on the bus and another twelve year old girl named Tosca, who is quieter than the rest of us.

"Well," Tosca says, standing up as soon as Natasha and I drop our packs, "It's almost four. I'm going to go see if dinner has started yet." She walks out the door, her curly brown hair swaying in her ponytail and Randi gets up and follows her out.

"So…" I say awkwardly, looking at the two other girls sitting with me. Migle has taken a sudden interest in her nails, and Natasha is looking at the split ends in her hair, "Wanna go walk around or something?"

Natasha quickly stands up and Migle follows, "Better than sitting around." Migle adds as we walk out the door.

We make our way through groups of kids that come about every so often and soon enough we're on the outskirts of the city, the three of us found a fence with a couple of hay bales that we were able to sit on.

We sit and talk about the other kids who we have seen so far today. There are a lot of twelve and eleven year olds here, a couple thirteen-fourteen-and-fifteen year olds, and then maybe ten kids aged ten and under.

"I really don't feel like dealing with a bunch of annoying twelve and eleven year olds the whole time we're here." I say, looking towards Migle and Natasha and referring to Natasha and my meeting with Laurel earlier today, "Especially Laurel. She already hates me for no reason."

"People only hate if they have something to envy." Migle says, "So Laurel obviously envy's you. Why? We'll just have to figure that out."

"Hey Girls."

Natasha, Migle, and I all look to the right to see a group of three boys coming over to us, each one holding a bucket. I see Michael in the group and wave to him. He's the only boy I know here so far…except for Jared. But I don't think Jared counts.

"Hey." Migle says with a smile, waving the boys over. They come and sit on the hay bales and I get a closer look at the boys who I don't know. The first one had shaggy brown hair and tan skin. He looks old, older than any other of the guys. Then there's another guy with shaggy blonde hair who also has tan skin.

Gosh…all the guys here have shaggy hair. _That _should be fun to deal with.

"I'm Greg." Says the guy with the brown hair as he points to himself. He then points to the boy sitting next to him, "And this is Blaine."

"And I'm Michael." Michael adds in. Natasha, Migle, and I introduce ourselves in return and then Natasha finally asks why they are carrying buckets.

"Because the red-head leader told us to get water." Greg explains, pointing to the pump that's a little ways away.

"Speaking of the devil…" Natasha mutters under her breath to me, looking at the girl who was now storming over here.

"Hey guys." She says, clearly towards the guys. She's completely ignoring Migle, Natasha, and I and turning it on full charm, "How's the water coming?"

Blaine backs away, obviously a little freaked out by the twelve year old flirting with him, but Greg and Michael stay by her side. Probably just playing along, "Oh, it's fine." Greg says, "But we should probably go get some more. Come on guys." He then turns to the three of us, "Nice meeting you." He says with a wink.

"You guys need to work, too." Laurel huffs, placing her hands on her hips.

"Okay." I say, backing away from the girl, "C'mon guys. Let's go check out the kitchen."

By the time we get to the Dining Hall, there are already a bunch of kids there. There are about ten picnic tables filling the large room, a serving bar, and a stage which I assume is for the "Town Council" Migle had gone to the kitchen to see when dinner would be ready so Natasha and I took seats at an empty table, away from the younger kids.

After waiting about ten minutes, Sophia comes out with a pot of pasta. We all quickly get our food and eat it fast. Migle, Tosca, and Randi have come to join Natasha and I and a couple other girls are sitting at the table nearby. Along with Laurel.

"Omg he _so _likes me." I hear the Boston-accented girl squeal to a girl with black curls. I nudge Natasha and the two of us get everyone at our table to stop talking so we can hear the rest of their conversation.

"He is _so _cute!" A girl with a western accent says back to Laurel. Migle raises her eyebrows and I start to laugh. I can't help it.

"You have a problem, Macy?" Laurel spits out, whipping around so she can see me. I turn around and look her in the eyes.

"Who said I was talking to you?" I question. She glares at me for a second and then turns back around, "Score one for Macy." I mutter to myself, playing with the leftover pasta on my plate.

"What time is it?" Natasha finally asks. After a little bit of questioning, we finally figure out that it's around nine-thirty.

"Wanna go back to our bunk?" Migle asks. We all nod in reply and Tosca leads us on our way out. I'm the last one out and I'm about to get out when Laurel calls out.

"Where are you going?"

I turn back. All the kids have noticed what Laurel calls out so all of them are looking at me with fascination…at least the younger ones are. The group of older boys are sitting at a table in the back and smirking at me.

"To chill in my bunk with my friends. Why do you care?"

"Way to invite me." She replies.

I shrug my shoulders and leave.

Call me the bitch of the town…I don't care. But I _cannot _deal with that Laurel girl.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey!**

**So: Thank you all sooo much for the positive feedback! It's amazing to know that people are reading my story! Just so everyone knows, I plan on updating this story every Sunday. So yah...that's basically my little sceduale. So yay!**

**Please review guys...it means soooo much. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kid Nation, but, I changed _alot _of the story line. **

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><p><strong>Day Two<strong>

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><p>"Okay…" I say, sitting up in my sleeping bag which is on the floor of my bunkhouse, "Why am I so tired?"<p>

"Well…" Natasha says, also sitting up and running her hand through her hair. She has a messy case of bedhead and looks like she wants to pass out, "I'm pretty sure we stayed up til one."

"Yeah." Migle says, nodding in agreement, "We did."

_Great, _I think to myself, _When I'm exhausted today, it'll be yet another thing for Laurel to yell at me about. _

"Wake up!"

Laurel comes storming into our bunkhouse, followed by a tired looking bunch of Anjay, Mike, and Taylor.

"I'm awake!" I yell back, glaring at her, "And I'll get changed if you so kindly leave."

"Fine. But hurry up, you're needed to help cook breakfast."

I give her a thumbs up sign and the four of them leave, leaving us about fifteen minutes to get ready for the day. I quickly swipe a pair of skinny jeans and a sweatshirt out of my backpack and change into them and the other girls do the same.

We walk out of our bunkhouse and straight into the path of a group of boys, probably the age of twelve. They part out of our way, and one of them waves and Tosca. I give her a 'Who the heck is that?' look and she gives me a look back that says 'I'll tell you later'

As soon as were about ten feet away from the boys, Tosca turns to me, "I sat with him on the bus. He's twelve and his name is Zach."

"Oh," I reply, looking back at the group of boys, "Is he nice?"

She shrugs her shoulders in response, "I guess. But he's kind of annoying."

"So is Jared." I say, walking into the kitchen with the other girls. Sophia is currently working at the stove, Michael and Eric are lugging water, and then a couple other kids are scrambled around the kitchen doing other work.

Everyone is doing everything _except _the dishes.

"Hey girls," Laurel says with a smile towards us. I know it's fake because Michael is standing behind us, but I'm playing along just for that reason.

"Hey Laurel!" I reply in an overly cheery voice.

"So…someone needs to do dishes."

"I'm not doing the dishes, Laurel."

Natasha and Migle nod their heads in agreement. Randi and Tosca have disappeared to somewhere and Natasha, Migle, and I really don't feel like doing the dishes.

"C'mon guys." Laurel says, "You don't want to be known as the lazies of the town. Do you?"

I sigh in frustration and finally plop down on the ground, picking up a sponge and starting to clean a plate. Natasha and Migle do the same, although none of us are very happy.

We sit and do the dishes for about fifteen minutes, and then breakfast is finally ready. There are pancakes but we only get one each…and I'm pretty sure I saw Greg snag two.

"Way to get one more pancake than needed, Greg." I say to him and he walks by me on his way to get a drink while I'm in line for food.

He looks over at me with a smirk, "Maybe I did. Maybe I didn't."

"I think you did." I reply, rolling my eyes at him. Dealing with guys like him is the most annoying thing ever. They think they're so cool but they aren't.

I finally grab my food and bring it over to a table near the end where Randi and Tosca are already sitting. Migle and Natasha follow and then we start to hit it hard on them, "Way to disappear." I say towards the two twelve year old girls. They both shrug their shoulders at us and giggle.

I exchange a look with Natasha and then the two of us burst out in laughter. When people are laughing, there's nothing you can do but laugh with them.

We talk amongst ourselves for a little while as much of the town does. Honestly, it's only the second day and we've already broken up into "Cliques". I hate to put it like that, but it's true. Although, it's more obvious around the girls than the guys.

There's my little group of friends, and then the youngest council leader has her little posse, and Laurel has a posse of her own. Then there is a few other girls. For the guys, it's mostly the older boys and the younger boys.

"Hey Guys, listen up!"

I snap my head up to the stage where Laurel, Anjay, Mike, and the youngest girl are standing, "We want to hold a meeting." Laurel continues, looking out among us.

"Ewwww." I mutter towards Natasha. She smiles at me and I make a funny face back. It's the least we can do to keep from being bored to death.

"Whatcha laughing at?" Greg and Blaine say, walking to our table as the "Town Council" begins to talk to the crowd.

"Ewwww." I say again, referring towards Greg and Blaine. They bug me and Natasha knows it. I feel like they know that they bug me too.

Natasha makes a funny face this time and Migle keeps looking over at Greg who is currently watching the meeting. Blaine is just staring into space…I've noticed that he does that a lot.

Laurel, Anjay, Mike, and Taylor (That's the girl's name) talk for a little while longer and nothing really eventful happens. Except the fact that Greg gets all up in Mike's face.

Oh yeah, Greg. You're _so _cool, picking fights with little eleven year olds.

They then dismiss us so they can go read some journal or something. I'm not exactly sure…I wasn't really paying that good of attention.

"This place is really boring." Natasha says as we round the corner that leads us from the dining hall to the street that our bunkhouse is on.

The way the town is set up is that the dining hall is on the east side of the town and the animal farm is on the west side. The jail bunkhouse is towards the north and in the south are all the cameras and producer's stuff. There's a huge fence surrounding the area and the outhouses and about ten yards behind the last street and in front of the dining hall. There are two streets. One street has like three bunkhouses and then the stores, and the other street has the other bunkhouses and the kitchen. Both streets also have empty rooms. There are also a bunch of fields all over the place. And hammocks. There are a lot of hammocks.

"It really is." I agree as the two of us fall into a hammock that is held up by two random trees in the middle of nowhere.

We sit and talk for a little while, Greg and Blaine come a visit us, Michael says hi, Migle and Tosca drop by, Randi waves as she walks with Zach and Taylor, and then it's finally the two of us again. At least, until the bell on the chapel rings.

Natasha and I walk over there slowly, not really wanting to get into an encounter with Laurel. As we reach the chapel, we see the four leaders holding chalkboards and bandanas.

They explain to us that we are getting split up into districts. Greatttt.

Natasha and I end up in the blue district with Greg, Blaine, and Tosca and Anjay is our leader. Fun, right? Hell no.

Laurel ends up with Michael…obviously. Even though it's only been a day, she's like already obbessed with him.

It's kind of funny…but I feel bad for the boy.

"Same district," Natasha says, smiling towards me. I look over at her and smile back. The district isn't perfect…but it isn't bad, either.

"We gonna rock to the top." Greg says, coming over to Natasha and I and putting an arm around each of us.

Natasha and I exchange looks and they at the same time mutter, "Ewwww."


	3. Chapter 3

**Heyyyy! **

**OMG THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR KIND REVIEWS!**

**You guys are just sooooo amazing! I love you alllll! *Snaps* Lol...sorry. I'm went Legally Blonde last night (For the 2nd time in a week) and the main character, Elle, always snaps cuz she's a UCLA Delta Nu Sorority President. So I decided to do it. Ok. This is getting awkward. Oh well. **

**Thanks for the reviews!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kid Nation. I changed a lot of it up, though, so be aware for surprizes.**

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><p><strong>Day Three<strong>

"We won!" I exclaim, jumping up and down and giving Natasha a hug. We had just won the first showdown and frankly, I was excited. Any prize could make this town better than it already was.

We had been divided into teams early yesterday. Natasha, Blaine, Greg, Tosca, and I along with a couple other kids had made the blue district with Anjay as our leader. Migle and Randi had been put on the yellow district with Taylor as the leader and a bunch of twelve year olds. Laurel was the leader of green and had taken Eric, Michael, Hunter, and her little posse and then Mike controlled red and hadn't taken anyone who I had really met.

The choice of prizes is between eight new outhouses or a TV. Frankly, I want the outhouses because we only have one. I'm pretty sure that's what the council is thinking, too.

"What if there's a tornado coming, though?" A little kid on the yellow district named Brett asks to no one in particular, he obviously pushing for the TV.

"That probably won't happen." An older boy on the yellow district replies. He looks at least twelve and he has tan skin and short, curly brown hair.

"Well what if it does, Zach?"

And his name is Zach. I turn back to Natasha after watching the boy's conversation and see that she has walked over to where Blaine and Greg are standing, shaking out their hair.

"You guys look like dogs shaking their coats." I say, smirking at the two teenage boys. They both look over to me and stick out their tongues, acting _exactly _like the mature fifteen and fourteen year olds they are supposed to be.

The council walks back and announces that they have chosen the bathrooms (THANK GOD) and then Jonathan announces that we are free to go and that our jobs start tomorrow. We came in second place out of the districts, which means that we are the merchant class. Apparently, we have to work the stores and stuff.

It doesn't sound very fun, but I guess we'll deal.

We separate to our bunkhouses to get changed. Blaine, Greg, Anjay, Alex, and Nathan walk into bunkhouse one and Natasha, Tosca, Olivia, Mallory, and I walk into bunkhouse two which is right next to it.

"I'm so peeved that we only got to bring three changes of clothes." Natasha complains, pulling on the capris that she wore yesterday.

"Right?" I reply, "And the fact that we aren't allowed to bring toothbrushes or toothpaste."

"It's nasty." Tosca adds in as I dig in the bottom of my backpack for the jeans I had worn yesterday. I then take off the showdown shirt I had put on and I put on a blue tank-top with a PINK sweatshirt. I mean, hey, might as well look fashionable if I'm going to be on TV. Right?

Olivia and Mallory are sitting in the corner talking quietly amongst themselves. They haven't talked to us this whole time, and I am getting annoyed. I mean, I'm _that _mean. Am I?

They finally leave and Tosca, Natasha, and I sit down in the middle of our bunk. We have nothing better to do, do we?

"So what do you guys think of the boys here?" Natasha asks, turning to lay on her stomach.

I shrug my shoulders. I guess some of the guys were cute…but I would never date someone here, because I might never be able to see them again. I tell the girls that and they nod in response.

"Do you got your eyes on anyone, Tasha?" I ask, looking over to the dark-haired girl. She shrugs her shoulders but a smile is breaking out on her face, "Who?"

"I'll tell you in a few days." She replies. I completely understand. We girls can go from liking a guy to hating a guy within the same day.

"You like anyone, Tosca?"

"Well…" She pauses, as if daring herself to tell us or not, "Promise you won't tell?"

"Pinkie-Promise."

"I think Michael's cute…but I'd have a better chance with Anjay."

I raise my eyebrows at Natasha without the look being seen by Tosca. She was right…Michael might be a _bit _out of her league…and Anjay was probably below it.

"What about that Zach guy? From yellow." I question, looking over at Tosca, "He's your age, right?"

"I sat with him on the bus. He's annoying." She replies, looking over to me, "Now I'm going to go find Randi. Don't tell anyone. 'K guys?"

"Got it." Natasha replies and as soon as she leaves, Natasha lets out a huge laugh, "ANJAY? She's crushing on ANJAY!"

I laugh too, but they I shut up. "We have to be quiet. He could be walking by for all we know."

"Or someone else could."

"Holy fuck!" I exclaim, jumping about five feet in the air and Greg strolls into our bunkhouse, "What are you doing!"

"I was just walking by and I heard some yelling. So I decided to listen."

"Eavesdropper." Natasha mutters, glaring at the boy who was standing by our door, "Now don't tell anyone or Tosca will kill us."

"I won't, don't worry."

"I don't trust you." I say, standing up so that he doesn't look as intimidating. Even though I've only known Greg for about a two days, I can already tell that he lies and that I shouldn't trust him.

"Well you should."

"Well I don't."

Right now, we're about two inches away from each other and I'm standing on my tiptoes, yet _still _being about six inches shorter than him. He's probably 5'10 and I'm a mere 5'2. This is _not _working out for me, "You don't scare me, Macy." He breathes.

It reminds me of what happened yesterday morning. The Town Council had a meeting and Mike and Greg got into a fight and they got all into each other's faces and then Greg stormed out and then Michael came to the rescue. Crap…I still need to congratulate him on that.

"C'mon Mace, let's just leave." Natasha reasons, pulling me out the door by my arm. Blaine is standing right outside with Hunter and Greg walks out last, walking over to the boys.

Natasha and I walk around for a little while, talking to some kids and just hanging out until Laurel rings the dinner bell, "Letsgo."

I follow Natasha to the dining hall and we grab plates from the end of the buffet. And with our luck, we end up right next to Greg and Blaine on one side and Anjay and Tosca on the other.

"Guess who's standing behind us…" Greg whispers (Quite loudly, might I add) to me. I glare at him and Blaine just laughs.

"I'm assuming you told Blaine?"

"I can't keep secrets, babe."

I grab a spoonful of potatoes and then angrily dump them onto my place, "Don't call me babe." I spit towards him. I hate when people call me babe. Especially since my ex did. And I _hate _my ex.

"Well sorry." He says, adding about three extra syllables to the 'Sorry'. We take our trays and go sit at a table which Migle and Randi are already sitting at.

"Why are you sitting with us?" I ask, plopping down next to Migle. As soon as Greg sits down, Hunter, Michael, and Eric come over to sit with us. Soon enough, there are nine of us crammed at one picnic table. It is not fun being squashed between Migle and Greg. Not fun at all.

"Hey," Tosca says, "Any room?"

"Why aren't you sitting with Anjay?" Greg blurts out before I can stop him. Tosca blushes a little, but quickly brushes it off because she is cool like that.

"Why would I sit with Anjay?" She questions, placing her tray next to Randi and starting to pick at her food.

Before Greg can respond, I kick him in the shin. Hard. He winces, but doesn't shout out, "I don't know…I just thought you guys have been hanging out a lot."

Tosca shrugs her shoulders and exchanges a look with Natasha and I. I shrug my shoulders and then when she looks away, I look at Natasha with a pained look on my face. This secret couldn't get out because Greg overheard Natasha and I talking.

"What do you want from me?" I whisper fiercely to Greg.

"To…?"

"To make you not spill Tosca's secret."

He thinks for a little while, holding a smirk on his face, "I'll get back to you on that." My face falls in disappointment as he stands up and the other boys follow, leaving only the girls at our table.

"What was up with _that_?" Tosca questions, "Why does he know about…Anjay?" She lowered her voice at the last part and Natasha and I shrug out shoulders innocently.

"You've been hanging with him a lot lately. That's all." Natasha says, coming to the rescue.

"Okay…now onto my question." Migle says, waving a hand in front of my face to get my attention, "What the hell is going on between you and Greg?"

"Nothing!" I say, groaning in frustration. I do _not _like Greg. Right now, I'm finding him to be the most annoying person on the planet.

"Good." Migle finally says, smiling to herself.

God, this is going to be a long forty days.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey Guys!**

**Happy April Fool's Day! It isn't really a holiday...but whatever. It sucks that it's on a Sunday, though. Last year in was during the week and my whole grade decided to play a prank on our teachers...we all switched homerooms. They got _so _pissed off at us, they made us eat a SILENT lunch. This year, because of our school's stupid dress code, we we're going to all wear spagetti straps and really short-shorts (At least the girls were) but it's on a SUNDAY. :(. Oh well, enought of me rambaling...**

**Thanks to OBVIOUSLY ENTEI for her amazing reveiws! I absolutly love seeing a review from you in my inbox...it makes my day! But then again, I like reviews from anyone *Hint Hint. Nudge Nudge***

**Oh well, welcome to Chapter Four!**

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><p><strong>Day Four (Lunch to Nighttime)<strong>

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><p>"Why can't I work with Tosca or Natasha?" I complain towards Anjay again. He doesn't respond and I huff towards him as he leads Greg, Nathan, and I to the Saloon. This is so stupid. Anjay pairs me with Greg –A kid that I hate- and Nathan –A kid I don't know-. Then he puts himself with Tosca, Natasha, and Blaine. I mean, really?<p>

"Have fun!" Anjay calls out, dropping us off inside the saloon and then leaving. I walk over to the counter and Greg and Nathan begin to take down chairs that are on the tables. I look at the chalkboard which holds the prices for all of the soda, and then I try and figure out how to work the cash register.

After many failed attempts, I'm finally able to get it to open. Good thing, too, because two boys who don't look older than twelve from the yellow district walk into the saloon, "Shouldn't you guys be cleaning the dishes?" I ask, raising my eyebrow at them.

"Stop being such a downer, Macy." Greg whispers into my ear, taking a spot on the right side of me.

"Yeah," One of the boys repeats, "Stop being such a downer."

"I don't even know you." I exclaim, looking over at the kid. He looks back at me and sticks out a hand.

"I'm Colton. Twelve. Yellow."

"Obviously…" I say, pointing to the yellow bandana wrapped around his forehead in a ninja-style way, "And you?"

"Zach."

Oh…Zach. I've met him before…and I've kept on forgetting his name. My bad.

"What can we get you two, boys?" Greg asks, looking over at the two kids. They examine the chalk-board filled with the names of all the soda's they can get and I pick at my fingernails, bored as hell.

They finally tell Greg what they want and Nathan gets it for them. I walk around the counter and take a place at one of the stools, sitting next to Zach, "I'm bored." I complain.

"But you're working with me." Greg shoots back, smirking. I roll my eyes and he continues talking to me as if nothing happened, "Ironic that Anjay picked Tosca to work with him…hm?"

I glare at Greg. How could he say that when Colton, Zach, and Nathan were all here to hear him?

"Greg!" I exclaim. Zach and Colton exchange looks and then turn to me with the same confused and questioning looks on their faces while Nathan stands there, looking _really _out of it.

"Does Anjay like Tosca?" Zach asks me, the grip tightening on his soda bottle.

"Nope."

"Other way around."

"GREG!"

"Tosca likes ANJAY?" Colton exclaims, and I can tell he is trying his hardest not to laugh. Greg nods his head and I glare at the three boys –excluding Greg- in the room.

"If you tell anyone I will murder you slowly and painfully. Got it?"

They all nod their heads, "Colton thinks Migle is hot." Zach mutters. My jaw drops open and Greg begins to laugh as Colton's face goes red.

"Really?" Greg questions through laughs. Colton just sits there, looking down at his bottle of root beer and Zach answers for her.

"Yup."

"Okay," I say, looking at the four boys in the room, "You keep Tosca's secret. I keep Colton's secret. If one of us slips, the other one sinks, too. Got it? Good."

I make my way back behind the counter as Colton, Nathan, and Zach continue having a conversation about something, "I cannot believe you right now." I say to Greg.

He shrugs his shoulders, "It slipped. Sorry."

"Listen," I say, leading him father down the counter and then standing on my tiptoes so I can _try _to look menacing to him even though he stands about eight inches taller than me still, "I've only known you for four days and I already hate you. So don't try and mess with me more."

"Not gonna work, babe." He spits into my ear. I let out a breath of frustration as he walks back over to cash register just in time to say goodbye to the boys.

"Can I leave?" I ask, looking over at Greg and Nathan. They shrug their shoulders and I hop over the counter, storming out of the Saloon and into the streets of Bonanza, right into the group of Natasha and Migle.

"Woah…someone looks pissed." Migle says, lazily looking over at me.

"Oh don't worry. I am." I respond, crossing my arms and huffing, "I hate Greg so much."

"Really?" Migle asks in a genuinely surprised voice. I figured she would be…she's been attaching herself onto him any chance she's gotten. Not in an overly-flirtatious way or anything…it's actually been pretty subtle. Natasha and I just noticed, "What'd he do?"

"He called me babe." I muttered, "I _hate _when people call me babe."

"Why?" Natasha questions as we enter the Blue District bunk, waving to Mallory who is piling some candy into her backpack.

"Long story about my ex."

"Oh." Both the girls reply and we sit in a awkward silence for a few seconds.

"I hate my district." Migle finally says, "They are so young and so annoying."

"Awwww." Natasha says, "I'm sorry."

I open my mouth to say something, but I'm cut off the ringing of a bell. I look at Natasha and Migle with a curious look and then the three of us stand up and walk outside, following a group of kids who seem to be walking towards…the dining hall…?

"Welcome to the first town meeting!" The host (Justin? Jack? Jordan?) says as we walk through the doors, seeing that the picnic tables had been moved and district colored benches had been put in their place. There was also a stage, and a table on the stage where the four district leaders were sitting.

"Town meeting?" I mumble into Natasha's ear as we take seats on the bench in the back, nine-year old Alex sitting on the other side of Natasha.

"This is going to be stupid." She responds.

The meeting drags on. There's a ton of fighting, yelling, tears, and laughter. Eight year old Jimmy from the green district goes home and Sophia gets a 20,000 dollar star. Great.

Greg and Blaine ended up sitting in front of us and Greg turns around to me, "I want that star, babe." He says.

"Don't call me babe." I shoot back, glaring at him.

"Alright, babe."

I know he's just doing it to tease me, but it's getting really annoying. Like I almost want to punch him in the face by the time the meeting's done.

Jonathan finally dismisses us around eight-thirty (Yah, about a four hour meeting) and Michael and Eric come over to me and Natasha, "So we're thinking about having a bonfire tonight. Only the older kids…do you wanna come?"

I shrug my shoulders and look at Natasha who nods her head, "Cool." Michael says, leading us to a firepit on the edge of town. When I say the edge…I mean the edge. The last building was about forty feet away.

Sophia, Laurel, and Morgan are already there with D.K. and Hunter. Greg and Blaine come up, and Migle does too. Tosca shows up with Anjay, Colton, and Zach a few minutes later.

"Welcome to the first bonfire of Bonanza City!" Eric announced, raising one of the lamps we stole from town as if having a toast.

We all cheer and clap and then break off into our own conversations. Greg, Michael, Blaine, D.K., Migle, Natasha are having a conversation about how boring this town is and the other kids are having a conversation about something.

"Look at Anjay and Tosca." I whisper to Natasha. She turns her head in the direction of them and then squeals a little. They aren't really doing anything…just standing next to each other and talking but it's still cute.

Greg throws a weird glance in my direction and I stick my tongue out towards him. He mouths the word 'Babe' to me and I turn away towards Migle and Michael.

"God, I haven't seen you since like day one, Michael." I say. He laughs, and opens his arms for a hug with I gladly return. As soon as we hug, I hear Laurel screeching Michael's name.

"I _really _don't want to deal with her right now." He mutters, but lets me go so he can see what she wants.

"She is so annoying." Natasha says to me. I nod my head in agreement and take a seat of the ground. I was fed up with standing.

We stay for a little while longer…until about nine-thirty…and then Laurel and Anjay decide it's time for all of us to go to bed.

"Party poopers." I mutter as we put out the fire and walk into town.

"LOOK!" Natasha whisper-shrieks, pointing to Anjay who is giving Tosca a hug. We smile at each other and then hurry into our bunk before Tosca figures out that we were spying on her.

"That was fun." I conclude, jumping into my sleeping bag.

"Very," Natasha agrees, "Night everyone!"

"Night!"


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey!**

**So...I decided to update early because I had the chapter ready and stuff. I don't have school next week, so I'll be writing a lot! Maybe a few chapters will come out this week! **

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**Thanks.**

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><p><strong>Day Five (Breakfast to Mid-Afternoon)<strong>

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><p>"I'm hungry." Natasha complains as we walk into the dining hall, still clad in our pajamas. Waking up early in Bonanza City is <em>not <em>in our vocabulary, and we don't change until about lunch time. Not that it matters, though, because my job in the Saloon doesn't start until one today.

"Me too." I agree as we take a place in the end of the line to get food. Yellow District earned their position as chefs, and they aren't doing too hot of a job. I know for a fact Sophia has been in the kitchen to cook almost all of our meals.

"Hey Natasha. Hey Macy." Natasha and I turn our heads to look at the voice coming from behind us. I finally see a kid who looks about our age with a green bandana around his wrist.

"Hunter…right?" Natasha says to which the kids nods, "Hey Hunter."

"Yeah. Hi." I add in, waving to the boy. We continue in the line for food, finally receiving plates piled with hash browns and a small bit of scrambled eggs. It isn't much, but at least its food.

"Where's Migle?" Natasha asks. I look over to our usual table to see that Randi, Tosca, Anjay, and Zach are all sitting there and Migle is nowhere to be found. I then begin to scan the room, and I finally find Migle sitting with the group of older boys in the corner.

"Found her." I say, pointing to the corner. Natasha nods her head and the two of us begin to walk over there.

"Nice pajamas, Macy." Greg says with a smirk as I sit down next to Michael. I roll my eyes but subconsciously pull up the straps of my tank-top. It's not like I was wearing short-shorts and a cami or anything, I was actually wearing sweatpants and a tank with a sports bra. It's just that Greg has that annoying affect that makes you want to be sure he isn't checking you out.

Migle looks over to me for a second with an annoyed glance, but then she turns away. God, she hates me sometimes. The things girls do when they like a guy.

Wait. Oh my god it makes so much sense. Migle likes Greg!

I want to ask Natasha if she knows, but she is busy having an animated conversation with Blaine about something. I don't want to interrupt her, so I just play with my food while Greg talks with Migle and Michael and D.K. have a conversation about something.

I'm about to stand up and go sit at my other table until Michael's voice stops me from doing so, "So, how are you liking your job, Macy?" He asks him and D.K. looking at me with curious looks.

I glare down at Greg before replying, "I hate it. Greg's an idiot."

"I heard that!" Greg shouts from down the table, taking his focus off of Migle which seems to piss her off.

"Whatever." I yell back, rolling my eyes. He sticks his tongue out at me and I do the same to him, at least until the council members walk up onto the stage.

"Hey guys." Anjay says, waving to us all. I look over to Natasha and roll my eyes, but I can see Tosca, Zach, and Randi out of the corner of my eye waving back to him.

The leaders say some crap about crap and then get down to the beef of things…they want to kill chicken.

"I'll do it!" Greg volunteers, jumping onto the bench with his hands on his hips, "I'll save the day!"

The little kids laugh, but I know for a fact that Greg is only volunteering so that he can get the gold star. Yeah, he's _that _shallow.

"You can kill chicken?" Mike asks skeptically. Greg nods his heads and Anjay's smirking, as if to say 'Ha! My district is the best!'

"Then by all means," Laurel says, smiling towards Greg, "Kill the chicken."

Greg walks back over to our table smiling, "So I'm going to need a co-chef…" He pauses, looking all of us over, "You up to it, Macy?"

"Hell no." I reply, "I already have to work with you in the Saloon. I'm not going to work with you on dinner, too."

He locks eyes with me, and mouths the word 'Secret'. I glare at him as he says, "You sure?"

"Whatever." I grumble, standing up with my plate and walking away with him following me into the kitchen, "Why do you need to find every reason to annoy me?" I ask Greg as he shuffles around the kitchen, trying to find an apron and a hatchet or axe or knife.

He pause, as if to think, and then looks back over at me, directly in the eyes, "Cuz it's fun."

I roll my eyes and hop up onto the table in the middle of the kitchen. The kitchen is actually pretty cool, it has three walls and then the wall that enters onto the street is open so the kitchen in very spacious and airy. The stove is one of those old-fashioned things and there are a bunch of pots, pans, plates, and glasses piled up on the floor. There is also a big table in the middle of the kitchen that you can prepare things on, along with a few other things. We store all the food in a room across the street from the kitchen.

"Why don't you bug someone else, then?" I ask as he holds up two aprons in the air he puts it over his neck, but needs help tying it in the back so I walk over to him and begin to tie it.

"Because you stand up for yourself and make it fun. I tried it with Migle, but she just let it happen…didn't wanna stop it." He looks over his shoulder as I finish tying the apron, "And thanks."

"No problem."

We look around for something to kill the chicken with, but Anjay finally walks in with a hatchet, "You ready?" He asks Greg. Greg nods his head and pulls me by the arm towards the stump where we are going to kill these chickens.

There is already a group of kids hanging out by the stump, and I spot Natasha hanging onto Blaine near the end of the group. I walk over to them, and I am stunned by the fact that Natasha is wearing Blaine's bright red coat.

"Hey," I say, walking over to them. They both smile down at me and then Blaine wraps his other arm (The one that isn't around Natasha) over my shoulder. Natasha has her head buried into Blaine's shoulder and she is also clinging onto Pharaoh (A twelve year old from the yellow district) as Anjay and Greg kill the chickens.

They do it quickly but a bunch of the younger kids still scream, obviously not expecting what had just happened to actually happen.

I see Emilie run off as the rest of us walk back into town, and Migle chases after her. Migle's really nice like that…I've only known her for four days but whenever someone needs comforting, Migle is there.

"Wanna keep me company while I gut the chickens?" Greg asks. I shrug my shoulders, but follow him into the chicken. I take a seat on the counter as Sophia walks in, asking if we need help. Then, the two begin to gut the chickens.

"That. Is. Nasty." I say, pulling my bandana over my mouth. Greg chuckles and Sophia laughs a little.

"You're not even gutting them." She says back. I shrug my shoulders and she smiles, "Ya know, you aren't as bad as Laurel says you are."

I raise my eyebrows, "So…Laurel _is _talking shit about me?"

"Oooo. Girl drama." Greg says in a monotone voice. I roll my eyes and Sophia laughs, and then turns back to me.

"Yah. I don't really see why, though. I mean, you don't even know each other. The only reason why I could guess that she doesn't like you is because of Michael."

"You like Michael?" Greg shouts in surprise, whipping his head towards me. I shake my head, although I feel a blush rise to my cheeks.

I don't _think _I like Michael. I mean, I guess he's cute. And smart. And nice. Oh crap…maybe I do like Michael.

"But I don't like Michael," I lie, looking over to Sophia, "So why is she jealous?"

"You're thirteen and twelve year old girls. You pick fights at anything."

"You're fourteen!" I exclaim back, "What difference does that make?"

She shrugs her shoulders and I angrily exit the kitchen. Not bothering to say bye to Greg, or to make up some witty comeback to Sophia.

"Have fun with your boyfriend!" Greg shouts loudly, attracting the attention of a few little girls from the Yellow District walking by. I cringe and then look back at him with a glare in my eyes. He smirks at me.

"Shut up, Greg!"


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey Guys! **

**OMG Thank Y'all soooo much for all the reviews! They mean so much! **

**So...I kind of gave up with the scheduale thing. I'm just going to update when I have the chapter's ready...so be on the lookout everyday! And I'll try to update in the late-afternoon!**

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><p><strong>Day Six (Early Morning until Late Afternoon)<strong>

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><p>"It is so fucking freezing." I complain, walking into the kitchen with Natasha and Migle. Technically, it isn't our job to be working in the kitchen but Migle was complaining about how no one in her district works, so we decided to be good friends and to help her.<p>

It seems like everyone else had that idea, too. Basically every single kid in this town is stuffed into the kitchen either cooking or cleaning except for Taylor, Sophie, Randi, Leila, Brett, Cody, and Pharaoh.

I make my way over to the stove where a Red-District girl named Kelsey is working with Tosca, but they both say they don't need help. All the older boys are lugging water, the girls from Green (And Migle and Natasha) are making bread and milk or something, and a couple other kids are cleaning the kitchen. So, I make my way to the pile of dishes where Zach, Jared (Yeah, that kid from the bus.), and Mike (The leader of Red.) are all sitting.

"Hey," I say, taking a seat next to Zach. The twelve year old smiles back at me and the other two kids say 'Hi'. I'm pretty sure Jared doesn't remember who I am…but that's okay. I'm not sure how much I want him to remember me.

"So…" Zach says awkwardly. I know that he's trying to start a conversation because Jared and Mike have gotten themselves into one, but I can tell he doesn't know where to start it.

"How's your Bonanza City experience going?" I question. He laughs and then shrugs his shoulders.

"It's okay, I guess. But I hate the yellow district. Taylor's a really bad leader and the girls are really annoying. Except for Migle…and sometimes Randi. How's yours?"

"It's okay."

"So there's a rumor going around that you like Michael…"

"What?" I shriek, dropping the plate I was holding onto the ground and looking over to him, "Please tell me you're kidding."

"Sorry…but I'm not."

"That. Is. Not. True." I reply, emphasizing every word more and more, "Who'd you hear that from?"

"Taylor told me. Apparently she heard it from some girl in the red district, who heard it from someone who green, who heard Greg talking about it with Michael himself."

"I'm going to murder Greg." I reply, taking deep breaths and then beginning to wash the plates again. I would talk to Greg after I was done washing the dishes…I mean, no need to start a fight in the kitchen with all the cameras nearby, "So who do you like?"

"What?" Zach asks, his turn to be shocked.

"Who do you like?" I repeat, louder this time in case he hadn't been able to hear me. He shrugs his shoulders, but I can see a blush coming to his face.

"Okay. It's either Tosca, Randi, or Taylor...right?"

He nods his head and I smirk, "Knew it."

"Well…I don't _like _Tosca. I just think she's pretty."

"Oh," I reply in almost a mocking way, "You don't _like _her. You just think she's pretty. Hmm?"

"Shut up Macy." He shoots back, lightly pushing me. I laugh and he just glares at me as we walk to the dining hall together, "See ya. And don't tell anyone." He says as we go our separate ways to our separate tables.

Breakfast is a short event. Nothing really happens, except Anjay tells us that we have to work our jobs today which really sucks because I don't feel like looking at Greg right now. I'm too pissed off at him.

"Do we have too?" I complain loudly towards Anjay. He glares at me from the stage where he is standing and I glare right back at him. Two can play at this game.

"Yeah." Laurel replies for him, "Yes you do."

"Oh shut up, Laurel." I mumble to myself. I didn't think anyone could hear me, but Natasha slaps me a five from under the table and Migle and I share similar smirks. Tosca laughs quietly. The three of them don't like her either.

"Now go!" Anjay yells, not in a mean way but in an encouraging way. I roll my eyes but stand up from the table of girls and dump my plate into the kitchen. I then slowly make my way to the saloon.

"Macy!" Greg shouts from the other side of the counter. Nathan waves to me, and I wave back to him. But I just huff to Greg.

"I'm mad at you." I say, walking over to the counter and standing next to Nathan. He looks at the two of us and then moves.

"I don't wanna be involved in this." He says, taking a rag and beginning to clean the tables and such. I roll my eyes and cross my arms, staring straight out.

"Why are you so mad at me?" Greg asks, "If it's about the Michael thing…it was just a joke. He knows that."

I raise my eyebrows skeptically at him, "Really? Because Zach told me that he heard that I liked Michael. So it's getting out all over town."

"Oh." Greg replies quietly, "Sorry."

"Whatever."

The three of us work in silence for a while. The occasional red or yellow district kid comes in; only one boy came from green. Anjay also stops in to see how we're doing, "Just dandy." Greg lies, placing a hand on my shoulder, "It's going great."

Anjay leaves and Greg looks over to me, "Do you like Michael?"

"No!"

_Yes. _

He holds up his hands over his head, "Just wondering." He pauses and then looks at the door which Anjay just left out of, "How are Anjay and Tosca coming along?"

I shrug my shoulders, "Fine, I guess. But Zach thinks—shit." I cover my mouth. I can't believe I was just going to let it slip that Zach thinks Tosca is pretty!

"Zach thinks what?"

"Nothing."

"I know secrets, Macy."

"Jerk." I reply. He smirks and I glare at him, "But Zach thinks Tosca is pretty."

"Wait…so Zach likes Tosca. And Tosca likes Anjay…?"

"I guess so." I reply. At that moment, the entire Blue and Green districts walk into the Saloon, telling us that there is a meeting for us. I exchange looks with Greg, and then we both go to sit in chairs as Anjay and Laurel make their way to a small stage that is set up in the Saloon.

I don't listen to much of the meeting…but basically they tell us that they are allowing dating to go on in Bonanza City, "Just no PDA in public." Anjay jokes as they dismiss us for lunch. Natasha and I exchange looks and roll our eyes. What does Tosca see in this guy?

We eat a quick lunch because we need to get ready for the showdown, which is in about twenty minutes. Natasha, Tosca, and I wolf down small sandwiches and then we run back to our bunk to get changed into our showdown gear.

The showdown goes on forever. We have to connect pipes to transport water from one place to another and _it sucks. _We end up getting upperclass, but the stupid green district doesn't finish in time so we don't get the reward.

"Go Green!" Natasha and I sarcastically cheer as they come over to the group after time has run out. Laurel gives the two of us a look and we quickly shut up. But that doesn't stop us from laughing behind their backs.

We walk back to our bunks, our clothes all wet and towels wrapped around our bodies, in a glum state. We're cold, wet, tired and dinner isn't for another four hours. Oh yeah, and the yellow district came in cooks again.

We change into warmer clothes. For me, that consists of putting on a pair of black sweatpants from my school, a tye-dyed sweatshirt and the only pair of shoes a brought…a pair of cool sneakers.

Natasha, Tosca, and I walk out of our bunk and quickly get pulled into the saloon by Migle for yet another meeting. About half the town is here (all kids aged twelve and older except the leaders) and Greg and Blaine are standing on the counter and I can't help thinking that it would be really funny if they fell.

"So, as you all should know, we called you here for a meeting." Greg begins, clinking on his bottle of root-beer with a spoon.

"I didn't know that!" I yell out, "I got dragged here against my will!" I add, glaring towards Migle who just smiles an innocent smile in return.

"Well shut up." Blaine says. I give him a glare and he smirks and high-fives Greg. Stupid boys. Always acting like they're _so _cool.

"So why _are _we here?" Michael finally calls out from the other side of the room where he's sitting at a table with Hunter, Eric, Sophia, and Morgan.

"We want to throw a party." Greg simply says, "Ya know, to celebrate our one-week anniversary."

"Is it really one week tomorrow?" Migle asks to which Natasha nods her head and I shrug my shoulders. I haven't really been keeping track of the days…they kind of all get jumbled in my head.

We all finally agree on the party, though. We all think it's a good idea. And we know that Michael will be able to get Laurel to go for it, and Tosca can get Anjay to go along with it.

"Good plan." Greg finally says, jumping off of the counter and walking out of the door with Blaine on his trail.

He is _such _a freak.

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading!<strong>

**Please review guys! **

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	7. Chapter 7

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**So...this chapter is *I think* one of the best so far. It has a lot of drama in it, so I think that it is very good. **

**Obviously Entei:** Haha...your reviews always make me smile. Thanks for always giving a long and helpful review. It means a lot.  
><strong>Someone: <strong>I'm updating... ;)  
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><p><strong>Day Seven (Right after Town Hall until Bed-Time)<strong>

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><p>"You guys are dismissed!" Jonathan yells with a wave of his arm as the group of us thirty-nine kids stands up from our benches, "See you later!"<p>

I shift my glance from the door to the clock on the wall, seeing that it's about nine. We started this meeting at six-thirty, so we've been sitting down for the past two and a half hours. Natasha and I finally make our way out the door, running into Migle and Tosca, and then Greg and Blaine come over to us, "Go start setting up." They say. We all nod our heads and then run to the Saloon.

The party we had talked about yesterday was being held tonight. Tosca had convinced Anjay to go for it, and Michael and Morgan had gotten Laurel to say yes. Then all it took was a little word of the mouth before every kid in Bonanza City found out we would be having a party tonight starting at nine-thirty and going until whenever.

We walk into the saloon and begin to take down chairs from tables and then create more room by moving the tables to the sides of the room.

"This is going to be so much fun!" Tosca squeals, jumping up and down.

"I hope," Natasha replies as her and Migle move a circle table to the side, "It better not be some boring party."

"It won't be. I mean, I'm here." I say, smirking as Tosca and Natasha laugh. Migle just smiles, nothing more. I can tell she doesn't like me that much…but I'm honestly not sure why.

"Yeah. That's it." Tosca replies sarcastically. I open my mouth in mock-shock and she just laughs so more. Gawd, I love these girls so much.

"So how's Anjay going, Tosca?" Migle asks, looking over to the Italian girl. Tosca's face goes red and she shrugs her shoulders.

"I don't know. Okay, I guess. How's your love-life going?"

Migle's face turns into a pout, "I don't _have _a love-life, ya idiot."

"You don't like anyone?" Natasha asks, her hands on her hips in that 'Don't-give-me-any-crap' kind of way.

"Fine!" Migle exclaims, exaggerating the 'fine' so that it has about three extra syllables. She motions for all of us to come in closer, "I like Greg."

"Called it!" Natasha exclaims as I –I can't help it- let out a laugh. _Greg? _Greg is the rudest guy here! He is so mean, and annoying, and mean!

"You have a problem with that?" Migle asks, placing her hands on her hips and glaring at me. Gosh, it she hated me before…we're like enemies now, "I mean, just because you like Greg too-"

"HOLD UP!" I exclaim, cutting her off, "I do NOT like Greg."

"You so do!" Migle exclaims back, getting into my face. I'm about to reply, but the door of the saloon swings open and a bunch of people walk in, "We're having this conversation later." Migle whispers to me as she walks across the room with Tosca.

"That was strange." Natasha whispers into my ear. I nod in agreement. That was _very _strange. I didn't know Migle could get so defensive over a boy.

We stop our conversation as Laurel makes a speech, along with Greg and Blaine doing "Bonanza City Bombs" (Rootbeer with a shot of fizzy water) and then we're allowed to continue with the party. The producers were kind enough to give us a radio and Eric also played the piano a little bit.

I spot Zach standing off with Colton, so I leave Natasha so I can go talk to him, "Hey Zach!" I exclaim to him, "Hey Colton!" I greet the other boy. They both wave to me and then Colton leaves, saying 'I like Migle better.'

After laughing at Colton, Zach finally replies to me, "Hey Macy."

"So you like the party?" I ask, motioning around the place with my hands. He shrugs and I roll my eyes. Guys who don't talk are so annoying, "Why don't you go hang out with Tosca?" I ask, gesturing to the corner where she is hanging out with Randi, Anjay, Markelle, Kelsey, and Colton.

"No thanks." He replies, taking a sip of the orange soda he is holding, "I don't like her. Remember?"

"But you said she's pretty…" I tease, punching him lightly in the arm. He glares at me but I can see the corners of his lips twitching into a smile.

"Oh, shut up Macy." He replies. I roll my eyes at him as he walks away to go talk to a group of older boys, "See ya!"

"Idiot." I scoff, crossing my arms and walking up to the counter where Greg is serving out drinks. Michael and Blaine are standing there talking to him and then Greg finally notices me.

"Whatcha want, blondie?" He questions, tugging on one of my dirty blonde curls. I shoot him the dirtiest look I have. Blondie is second on the list of names I hate being called, it falls right after babe.

"A root-beer, dumbass." I shoot back. I do not see what Migle sees in this guy. All I see is a conceited jerk who flirts with girls all the time. Frankly, it's annoying.

"Feisty." Greg replies, handing me the dark brown bottle. I glare at Greg for a second before taking a sip out of it. Greg then goes down the counter to serve someone else and Blaine follows him. Michael then looks over to me.

"Can we talk?" He asks. I nod and then I let him lead me out of the saloon and onto the steps of it. I am almost 100 percent sure what he wants to talk about. He wants to talk about the stupid rumor Greg spread of me liking Michael.

"Listen…I think you're a cool guy and all…but I don't like you. Not like-like, at least." I say, looking at the horizon of the town because I don't want to look at Michael himself.

I know I'm lying…but I don't think I could ever take my crush with Michael anywhere. We're almost too different to date. He's smart and quiet and I'm loud and obnoxious. It just won't work.

He lets out a breath and the replies, "I feel the same way."

"Good. I honestly don't know why Greg started that rumor. Everything he says is basically a lie."

"So I've noticed," Michael replies, standing up and then giving me his hand to help me up, "That's why I don't plan on telling him who I like."

"Is it Laurel?" I ask as we walk inside, I gesture towards the red-head who is talking to Morgan and Sophia. He shakes his head and then I look back over to the group, "Sophia?"

His face turns red and I can't help but smile. Him and Sophia would be adorable together. I'm about to say something, but Greg and Blaine walk up to us, "Whatcha talk about? Hmm?" Greg asks, smirking.

"Nothing." Both of us reply, walking our separate ways. He goes over to Sophia, Laurel, and Morgan because Hunter and Eric had made their way over there and I go to Natasha who is talking to Taylor and Leila. And she looks very bored.

As soon as I go over there, Taylor makes an announcement to the younger kids saying they should all go to bed. Most of them agree, and about ten kids leave the saloon. Now, it's time for the real party.

"What did you and Michael talk about?" Natasha asks with a curious look on her face, "I saw the two of you going outside…"

"Oh…" I reply, "Well Greg was spreading the rumor that I like Michael and so we talked about that. We don't like each other more than friends. He likes Sophia!" I say, whisper-shrieking the last part.

"Are you serious?" She exclaims. I nod my head and she jumps up and down, "OMG that's so cute!"

We talk for a little while longer about them and then Blaine comes up to us, pointing to the door which Greg and Migle are walking out of, "What's up with that?" He questions. Natasha and I look at each other and then shrug our shoulders.

"Does Greg like Migle?" I ask Blaine, who is return shrugs his shoulders.

"Does Migle like Greg?" Blaine asks back. Natasha and I look at each other and then nod our heads. It's not like she ever told us _not _to tell anyone.

We sit in a comfortable silence for a little while, watching the rest of the party go down and taking sips of our soda. Blaine has his arm around Natasha, and then I know that even though she denies it Natasha likes Blaine.

Finally Greg walks back into the saloon. Alone. Without Migle. And comes over to us, "What was that?" I question.

"YAH!" Blaine and Natasha also say, backing me up.

He pauses, as if wondering to tell us the conversation or not and then he opens his mouth, "Migle told me that she likes me. And then I walked her to her bunkhouse."

"She told you?"

"Why would she do that?"

"What did you say!"

Blaine, Natasha, and I ask at the same time. Greg just shrugs his shoulders and walks away. Blaine gives Natasha and me our hugs, and then follows Greg, "Wanna go to bed?" I ask Natasha to which she nods. It's about twelve-thirty and I'm exhausted. We grab Tosca and then the three of us walk into the cold streets of Bonanza.

"That was so much fun!" Tosca exclaims, jumping up and down, "I got to talk to Anjay like the whole night! And I danced with Randi and Migle and OMG it was just amazing!"

"It was okay." Natasha responds, "I danced a little. And Blaine and I hung out a lot."

"Ehhh. I was just involved in people's lives tonight." I state. I mean, not that I don't mind being involved in other people's drama…it's just that sometimes it gets annoying, "But I'm really tired. So night guys!"

"NIGHT!"


	8. Chapter 8

_**Hey Guys!**_

_**Ugh. This week was so very long. So…I'm terribly sorry…this chapter might not be as good as the others… **_

_**Thanks for all the AMAZING REVIEWS!**_

_**They mean so much!**_

_**So yah. Please review this chap guys! Thanks!**_

**Day Eight (Morning until "Brunch")**

"Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!"

I lift my head drowsily out of my sleeping bag. I'm exhausted and someone is trying to wake me up? No way. _Not _a good combination. I finally recognize the person trying to wake us up.

The one, the only, the _idiotic _Greg.

"Go away!" I scream, tucking my head back into my sleeping bag and shutting my mascara-covered eyes. Yah…I might have forgotten to take my make-up off last night. My bad.

"Wake up!" Greg yells. I can feel his breath on my face and it doesn't smell too pleasant. I open my navy blue eyes to be staring into the dark orbs of Greg.

"Go away!" I yell back, sitting up. The rest of my cabinmates are sitting up. Except for Natasha…she's still sleeping like an angel. How is she sleeping? I have no idea, because Greg and I are yelling at the top of our lungs.

"I'll go away if you guys get up. It's nine o'clock, we need to get this town moving." He fights back, standing in the doorway holding his two metal trays that I'm praying he won't clank together.

"We'll be ready in fifteen minutes." Natasha says, finally waking up. He pauses, as if thinking over the compromise, and then nods his head.

"If you're not up in fifteen minutes…" He starts to which Natasha simply holds up her hand.

"We'll be up."

With that, Greg leaves the bunkhouse for us to get ready, "I hate this place." I complain, sifting through my bag for clothes to wear.

"But you met me!" Tosca says, jumping up and down. I really do not know how she is able to be this hyper in the morning. Like for me it just isn't possible.

Olivia and Mallory leave the bunkhouse first, because they actually went to bed at a decent time last night. Tosca leaves quickly after them and then Natasha and I finally go. We aren't really sure where we _should _go, though, because we're positive that breakfast by the yellow district isn't ready yet.

"So you guys actually woke up!" Blaine exclaims, walking over to us with Migle and Greg. And Migle and Greg were standing awfully close if ya know what I mean. I exchange a look with Natasha and then she shrugs her shoulders. Blaine just stands there the whole time with a confused look on his face.

"I'll tell you later." Natasha finally says to him, walking over to Migle so that she can say good morning or something.

Blaine then looks over to me and I roll my eyes at him, "No." I simply say, also walking over to Migle and Greg. Migle and I exchange cold glances but she says 'Hi' to me and I return with a 'Hey'. Natasha and I then begin to tell off Greg and we're yelling _extremely _loud at him for having the nerve to wake us up.

He's about to respond, but we are called to the dining hall. I know breakfast isn't ready, so I'm assuming it's just another stupid announcement that the stupid council will be making. We walk into the dining hall, and I am so right. The five of us then make our way to the back corner table. Migle and Greg sit next to each other, and then Blaine, Natasha, and I sit across from them so we're looking at their backs.

The council begins to talk about a curfew or something, and then Blaine turns to Natasha and me, "Alright. What we're you two telepathically communicating about?"

"Migle and Greg," I whisper, jutting my head in the direction of the two of them sitting awfully close together, "What's going on?"

"Yeah," Natasha adds in, "Are they like dating or something?"

Blaine just shrugs his shoulders, "Greg hasn't said anything to me."

"Migle doesn't like me!" I pop in, "So she obviously won't tell me anything."

"And she hasn't said anything to me." Natasha concludes as the three of us sit in silence, wondering what we should do.

"I say we wait." Blaine finally says as we get dismissed with a curfew of nine-thirty. Which kind of sucks…because that is really early.

"Agreed." Natasha and I say as we catch up to Migle and Greg who are walking over to sit on the saloon steps.

We sit and talk for a little while about crap, but we keep on getting interrupted by little kids yelling at Greg for waking them up too early. Greg finally snaps and calls Divad, an eleven year old from red, a bitch. Migle slaps Greg before I get to him, and then the town council walks up to us with Laurel in the lead.

She yells at Greg a lot. There is a really big fight. Greg is swearing at the top of his lungs and Blaine and Migle are trying to hold him back. Natasha and I are just standing there, and then Laurel begins to yell at us for no reason.

Frankly, I'm done with it.

I just walk away.

I slip away, so no one follows me, and I go behind the saloon where a platform is set up with a few benches and clothes lines. I sit there for a little while and I can feel tears threatening to pour out of my eyes, but I try to hold them in.

"Macy?"

I look up and see a brown-haired, brown-eyed Italian girl. Just the girl I'm looking for, "Tosca?" I ask back, but my voice cracks. She runs over to me and hugs me.

"Everyone's looking for you, Mace. Are you okay?"

I try to smile, but I know it comes out weak, "Do I look okay?" I questions. She takes a look at my face and then shakes her head.

"Are you homesick?"

I nod, "And I'm sick of Laurel."

"It's hard here. But we all need to stick together." She says. Gosh, that twelve-year old is mature beyond her years, "You can cry." She finally says. And I finally let myself.

I bury my head into her shoulder and she rubs my back. I think she was right. Maybe I do just need to let my emotions out, and then I'll get better.

I stay silent for a couple more minutes and then I finally look over to Tosca, "Thank you." I say, giving her a hug.

"You're one of my best friends here, Macy. So it's no problem."

And with that, we walk back into town together. Ready to face whatever problem comes in our way _because _we will always stick together.


	9. Chapter 9

_**Hey Guys!**_

_**Wow. Ohmigod. You guys gave me something like eight review (I think) and I was like "Alrighty…Ima have to update." So, I decided to! Thanks for all your amazing reviews…every single one of them means a ton to me. **_

_**To answer some general questions…**_

_**Macy was based off of me. Like in my first story (That I deleted BTWs) but she has changed so much…she isn't based off of me anymore. **_

_**Second: Tosca is created by Obviously Entei. All rights t o her !**_

_**Obviously Entei: **__Thanks for all the ideas! I'm definitely taking some into consideration…and I actually had a couple of them coming in later chapters! And HELLLL yah! As soon as you get an account, me and you are doing a collab. It's like our destiny :)_

_**Julia: **__Awww, thanks! I promise something will happen with Tosca…I'm just not going to give out what. _

_**Latias: **__Haha…maybe ;)_

_**A: **__Awww, thanks!_

_**Wicked Fangirl: **__Don't worry…Ima get some love triangles, trapazoids, and squares in here. LOL. And I think I answered your question above _

_**Somebody: **__Hmmm, I'll take that into consideration!_

_**B: **__Ima updating!_

_**So yah. And TELL ME YOUR IDEAS! I WANT OPINIONS!**_

_**Please review!**_

_**Thanks!**_

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><p><strong>Day Nine (After Lunch until Right before Dinner)<strong>

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><p>"I cannot believe we got stuck as freaking merchants again." Natasha complains to me as we walk through the streets of Bonanza to the grocerycandy store. Yes, we got stuck as merchants again. And yes, Anjay finally got the common sense to put Natasha and I together. He also stuck Blaine in with us. Greg, Anjay, and Tosca are working the Saloon and Mallory, Olivia, Alex, and Nathan got put in the dry goods store again.

"Right?" I say as we cross the street to walk up the steps into the store, "It was so much more fun being upper class."

Natasha looks at me with a look that says 'No duh' and I rethink what I said. Yah…I suppose it was kind of redundant.

We walk into the store to see Blaine already there, straightening things up. We both wave to him and he waves back as we head over to the counter to drop our coats back there. I also take off my shoes because I find sneakers very annoying.

"So when does this thing open?" I ask, looking from Blaine to Natasha. They shrug their shoulders and then Natasha looks at the clock on the wall.

"How about one-thirty?" She asks. I nod my head and Blaine just goes along with it, we have about ten minutes to get ready which is pretty good.

We work in silence for a little bit because we don't really have much to talk about and I'm pretty sure that Blaine and Natasha don't really want to flirt or anything with me right here. I have just about the biggest blabber mouth in Bonanza City and they don't want their little flirtations getting out.

We finally open the store, but no one really comes in. It's very boring, so I finally decide that we need to get a conversation going, "Anyone figure out anything with Greg and Migle?" I ask, curiously looking over to Blaine because I figured that if Natasha knew anything she would have told me by now.

Natasha shakes her head and Blaine shrugs his shoulders, "I got out of Greg that he might like Migle. But he isn't sure."

"He isn't sure?" Natasha questions, raising an eyebrow.

"He thinks she's pretty…but he also thinks she's young. I mean, she just turned thirteen." He explains in more detail. Natasha and I nod our heads in understanding. It makes sense.

We drop the conversation at that, knowing that we probably won't be able to get much more out of Blaine. We then drift into another silence seeing as no one comes into the store for at least another ten minutes.

Finally, Jasmine and Mike (Two laborers from the Red District) walk into the store with money in their hands. They begin to pile lots of candy into their hands, and when Natasha rings them up Blaine and I try to get out of them why they have so much candy.

"The Red District is having a little party tonight." Mike finally says, ignoring the looks Jasmine is sending him.

"How come we don't have parties in the Blue District?" I complain, crossing my arms. I'm disliking my district more and more every day.

"'Cause Anjay's an idiot." Blaine says, crossing his arms also.

"True dat!" I yell out loudly. Mike and Jasmine exchange looks and then burst out into laughter and I roll my eyes at them in a teasingly way.

They laugh again and start to walk out the door, but as soon as they step out of it they run back inside, "There's like a sandstorm going on out there!"

"What?" Natasha and I yell, running to the window. My mouth drops open as I look outside. There's sand all over the place and you can barely see anything.

"Where do we go?" Natasha asks, looking towards Mike. Mike shrugs his shoulders and just stands there. Some council leader he is.

"What about the Saloon?" Blaine questions, "It's big enough to hold us and it's kind of in the middle of everything." He continues. Jasmine, Mike, Natasha, and I all nod our heads and then walk outside.

It's harder than I thought it would be. The wind is blowing hard and Natasha and I have to cling onto Blaine to stay on the ground. Legitamently. When we get to the Saloon, we see that a bunch of people have the same idea as us. About the whole town is in the Saloon.

"BLAINE!" Greg shouts, running over to the blonde-haired boy and engulfing him in a man hug. Natasha and I exchange looks and roll our eyes; Blaine and Greg are like attached at the hip.

We then follow Greg to the back corner where a bunch of the older kids are sitting. That's basically how this town is divided up-older kids and younger kids.

"Hey," Natasha, Blaine, and I greet as we sit down. I end up next to Tosca, who is talking to Anjay and Randi with her back to me. Blaine and Natasha get into a conversation that I catch bits and pieces of, Michael is talking with Hunter, Eric, Sophia, and Laurel, and then Greg, D.K., and Migle are talking.

The other kids of the Yellow District are in another corner, as I can see Zach and Colton looking towards our group every so often.

"I'm bored." I complain (Quite loudly, might I add.) Everyone turns to look at me and I shrug my shoulders but I can feel a blush rising to my face, "Well it's true. This town is boring."

"Strangely, there isn't all the drama I thought there would be." Sophia says in a bored tone. Natasha and I exchange confused glances. There is _so _drama going on in this little world.

"What do you mean?" Natasha asks, looking towards Sophia.

"I don't know. I guess I thought there'd be more romances and one-day flings and a lot of girl cattiness." She explains with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Well Laurel hates Macy." Greg says simply. Laurel whips her head to glare at Greg and I want to shrink back and hide in a shell or something. Why would he say that?

Greg ignores the looks a bunch of people are giving him and Laurel simply crosses her arms and continues to glare, but is now sharing that glare between Greg and I.

"I don't hate Macy." She says through clenched teeth. I roll my eyes and choose not to respond. If I responded, so not-so-nice things and words would be flying out of my mouth.

There's an awkward silence for a little while and then we all dismiss into smaller groups. I notice that Greg has finally gotten away from Migle and he comes over to me.

"I need your help, Macy." He says to me, pulling me to a corner of the Saloon.

"Why would I help you?" I question, crossing my arms but sticking around so I can hear his answer.

"Because I have a little secret."

Shit.

Fuck.

This is _not _happening.

"What do you want?" I mutter, glaring at the brown-haired boy.

He pauses, and then looks me in the eyes, "I need you to get Migle off my back."

Shit.


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey!**

**So...I'm very sorry I couldn't update any sooner. I've been very busy lately. School's been catching up to me along with random things of life...I've also been having some issues seeing as one of my besties has gotten into some trouble. But...I finally took some time and decided to update!**

**Thank you all for the kind reviews! They mean so much!**

**And thanks for the ideas...keep 'em coming!**

**Review guys! Thanks! Love you!**

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><p><strong>Day Ten (After Breakfast until Town Hall)<strong>

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><p>"I don't wanna do this, Greg." I say, placing a hand on my hip and leaning against the fence that keeps the garbage of Bonanza City in one place.<p>

It's also basically the only private place you can go to in Bonanza City. And Greg and I really need our privacy right now.

"Do you want me to tell everyone that Tosca likes Anjay?" He questions, crossing his arms in return and looking down at me. I run my hand through my blonde hair and breathe out a sigh. I am having _so _many issues right now.

"Why do I have to do this, though?" I exclaim back, "Why me?"

"Because you're the only one who I can get to do it." He replies. He pauses and then continues to talk, "Don't get the impression that I like you, though. I like someone else. I just need you to get Migle off of my back."

I shoot him the nastiest look I have. If he doesn't like me and I don't like him, why do I have to do this?

"Oh thanks." I say sarcastically, sticking out my tongue at him.

"No offense." He says, holding up his hands, "I think you're hot and all. You just aren't my type."

"Ya know what? I liked it better when you didn't like me and I didn't like you." I say, backing away from him. He smirks at me and I roll my eyes at him again. I seem to be doing that a lot with him.

"Listen, all you have to do is act like you like me. That'll get Migle off my back and then we can both move on to better things." He says in a serious voice.

"Whatever." I reply, storming off. I'm too pissed off right now, Greg honestly brings out the worst in me and it's not fun dealing with that.

The fact that he likes someone lingers in my mind, though. I mean, who could it be? If it's not Migle and it's not me, that kinda only leaves Natasha. Sophia and Michael are obviously going to get together…maybe…and then Laurel and Morgan are both younger than him by a lot. But Blaine and Natasha have a little something-something going on…so I'm very confused.

"Macy!" Natasha screams, breaking me out of my thoughts. I get back into reality and see that I'm about to run over Taylor and Leila.

"Crap…" I say, my face turning red as some of the kids around (Including Laurel and Savannah) laugh at me, "Sorry."

"Whatever." Taylor says in a heavy southern accent. Leila gives me a small smile but continues to follow Taylor to wherever they're going.

"Dude…what's wrong?" Natasha asks, running over to me, "You look like you're going to cry."

"Do I really?" I ask. I knew I was upset about all of this…but I didn't think I really showed it. I thought I showed it more as being pissed off.

She nods her head furiously, "What's wrong?" She asks, leading me to a hammock where no one really is.

"Greg wants me to pretend I like him to get Migle off of his back."

Natasha stares at me for a minute, and then her mouth drops open as if she is going to say something. She thinks for a few seconds and then screams in anger, "That fucking idiot!" She exclaims loudly, standing up from the hammock, "I'm going to murder him!"

I smile smugly. I knew I could count on Natasha.

"Wait." She says, turning around to me, "He has blackmail on you."

Shit. I forgot about that part.

"What should I do?" I ask in a desperate voice, leaning back into the hammock. God, this place is so confusing.

"C'mon," She says, pulling me out of the hammock, "We're gonna go convince Migle not to like Greg."

I feel so bad right now. Migle is one of the nicest people here, and she hates me because of Greg. I never want to lose a friend over a guy, but that's what is happening right now.

"MIGLE!" Natasha exclaims loudly, walking into the Yellow Districts bunk. We are greeted by Randi and Migle talking to each other and Natasha grabs Migle by the arm and pulls her out of the bunkhouse, "We need to talk to you."

"About what?" Migle questions, chewing on a bit of candy she was holding in a bag. Natasha reaches inside the bag to grab some candy, but Migle slaps her hand away.

"We don't think you should like Greg." Natasha says, gesturing between her and myself. Migle looks at the both of us, as if she is analyzing us, and then sighs in a frustrated way.

"I knew it." She says, pointing at me, "I knew you liked Greg. I knew that you would want him to yourself."

"That isn't it!" I exclaim. Our voices has begun to attract some attention throughout the town, but Natasha throws the kids who have come nearby a 'Get-The-Fuck-Away-Look'

"Then what is it?" She exclaims back, crossing her arms and glaring me down.

"Greg doesn't like you…" I whisper slowly, not really wanting to deal with a pissed off Migle.

"I cannot believe you. I didn't think you were such a bitch." Migle says to me, emphasizing every word. She then walks away, pulling Natasha behind her as I stand there in shock. No one has _ever _called me a bitch before. At least, not to my face.

I then walk off in the other direction, towards the part of town where the little kids hang out. I really don't want to deal with any of the older kids right now.

I finally find Tosca and Randi sitting on the porch with all the clothing lines that is behind the dry goods store. They are having a conversation, but when they see me they drop it and say hi.

"What were you guys talking about?" I ask, looking at both the girls as I take a seat next to Tosca on the bench. Tosca's face goes red and Randi smirks, nudging Tosca with her elbow.

"We were talking about how Tosca is going to tell Anjay tomorrow." Randi says with a smile. My mouth drops open and I look over to Tosca, who is nodding slightly. I then engulf her into a huge hug.

"Omigod I'm so proud of you!" I exclaim, releasing her just to go back and hug her again, "Score one for Tosca!"

The thought that Zach kinda likes Tosca still lingers in the back of my mind, but I ignore it. I've heard that Randi and Taylor both like the kid, so I'm sure he could make do with one of them if he really wanted a girlfriend.

"It's been eating at me, so I figure I might as well tell him." Tosca says with that wise attitude of hers.

"Smart."

We sit and talk for a couple more minutes, but then Randi reminds us that it's almost time for Mallory's birthday party in the Saloon before Town Hall. Yeah, Mallory's birthday is today! She's turning nine and she's so darn cute!

We walk into the Saloon together, being some of the last kids there. Migle and Natasha are standing off together and Greg and Blaine are on the other side of the room. The rest of the kids are scattered throughout the middle of them.

Greg catches my eye and gestures for me to go over there. I reluctantly leave Tosca and Randi and slowly walk over to Gregory, "I'm still pissed off at you." I whisper to him. He smiles cheekily towards me and Blaine starts to laugh, "Oh shut up Blaine." I mutter towards him.

We then sing to Mallory and she gets a jar of candy. I don't really know Mallory that well, but I know that she's a hard-working girl who has a really big heart. Unlike her sister, who's very snotty and doesn't hang out with the older kids much because we don't really like her.

"How long is this little arrangement going to last for?" I question towards Greg as we sit down at one of the circle tables.

He shrugs his shoulders, "Only a couple of days at the most, I guess." He replies.

My face scrunches up into one of anger and I pound my fist on the table, imagining that it is Greg's face.

"I hate you Greg." I say, glaring at him.

"I love you Macy." He replies, throwing me another cheeky smile as Blaine continues to laugh his pants off and I glare at the brown-haired boy.

This whole thing is just _not_ working out very well for me.


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey!**

**So guyses...how's life going? Mine is actually going pretty well...pretty well indeed. I know it's been a little while since my last update...but I've caught up and I'm ready to keep on movin' forward! Thanks for the reviews last chapter, guys. It really means a lot. Especially to my constant reviews: Obviously Entei, Wicked Fangirl, Fae, and So. Many. Others.**

**Thank you all so much!**

**As always, please review. And give ideas...your ideas are always welcome!**

* * *

><p><strong>Switched showdown to Day Eleven<strong>

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><p><strong>Day Eleven (Afternoon until Curfew)<strong>

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><p>"Good job, Mails!" I applaud Mallory for the last time before she leaves the bunk house. Mallory was awarded the gold star yesterday at Town Hall and I'm so happy for her, she really needed that little bit of boost on her birthday, "And good job at the showdown today!" I add. She gives me one last smile and then walks out the door. I then turn to Tosca who is sitting across from me on her sleeping bag, still dressed in our showdown gear.<p>

"She did do really well today." Tosca says. I nod my head in agreement. The showdown for today was a really big puzzle of a church and Alex and Mallory basically did it all for us, letting us come in as Upperclass. We also won the reward as a town, getting a set of Religious Books because the Town Council talked about holding a Religious Service of some sort. Tosca's open to it and I don't really know what to think of the whole thing.

"Definitely." I say, "So when are you going to talk to Anjay?"

When Tosca hears that, her face goes red and she looks down at the ground, "Idontknow." She says with a shrug of her shoulders, "Never." She adds quietly.

"Tosca!" I exclaim, slapping her lightly on the shoulders, "You are talking to that boy!"

She shakes her head, "I don't wanna. I'm too shy."

I can't help it, I laugh out loud at that comment, "You? Shy?" I say in between my laughing fits, "You're one of the most outgoing people here!"

She looks at me, glaring in a mocking way, "You know me too well."

"Yes. Yes I do." I say, standing up and then pulling the Italian twelve year old up with me, "Now we are going to get changed and then find Anjay." I proclaim, walking over to my corner of the room and grabbing the jeans I wore earlier today and my sweatshirt that I've been wearing around a lot.

"I hate you." Tosca says from her side of the room as I begin to change. I roll my eyes at the girl; she loves me and she knows it.

"Okay," Tosca says, taking a deep breath after about five minutes of silence, "Let's go."

I squeal in delight as we leave, Tosca pushing me in front of her, and then begin to stroll along the streets of Bonanza City as we look for Anjay.

We see a lot of people on our little journey towards Anjay. We see Randi, Zach, and Taylor who Tosca and I both wave too. Zach gives me a questioning look and I give him one back that reads "I'll-Tell-You-Later."

Natasha and Migle are hanging out. Natasha waves but Migle sits there with her arms crossed. Greg's been attached to me for the past twenty-four hours and Migle isn't very happy about that.

Greg and Blaine also come say hi to us. I somewhat try to ignore Greg, but I end up giving him and hug and then leaving with the excuse, "I'll talk to you later." Pshhh, like _that's _gonna happen.

We _finally _spot Anjay walking around a corner, the corner that leads to the platform behind the Saloon with all the laundry lines on it. Tosca starts giving me these nervous looks and she pushes me far ahead, "Can you talk to him first?" She whispers to me. I sigh, but nod my head. I'm willing to do anything to get these two together.

Mostly because it'll get Greg off of me because he won't have anything to blackmail me with….but I do think that they will be cute together.

And with that, I turn around the corner only to back away really quickly and then peep my head back in to make sure what I saw was true.

Yep.

Yah.

It was true.

Olivia and Anjay were holding hands and talking. Great. Just great. Just fucking amazing.

"Omigod." Tosca says quietly. I whip my head just in time to see the poor girl running away. I quickly sprint after her, and then I get her to talk to me by the time we reach the bunkhouse.

"She knew I liked Anjay, too." Tosca says quietly, her head hanging down. My lip goes into a pout and I hug Tosca tight.

"He's just a boy, Tosc. Nothing to get worked up about." I say in a soothing voice, rubbing her back softly.

Tosca takes a deep breath in and then closes her eyes, "I'm just gonna rest in here." She finally says, "See you later."

I hug Tosca one last time and then I leave, shutting the door quietly. As soon as I leave, though, I let out my anger by walking very loudly. I was so close to getting free of Greg and then Olivia and Anjay decided to get all cuddly. _Just_ my luck.

I walk out of the bunkhouse and then slowly wander around town. I don't really know where I'm going and I don't really feel like running into anyone.

"Macy!"

Greattttt.

I turn my head to see Migle calling to me. I half-heartily wave towards her and she runs over to me, "We need to talk." She says, pulling me to some random building and then sitting me down on the steps.

"Yeah." I mumble, looking over at her.

"What's up with you and Greg? Cause I like him." She says, spilling it all out.

"I know," I reply, "And I don't know what's up with Greg and I. I'll get back to you on that." I say, walking away.

I don't wanna seem rude…but if I stuck around any longer I would slip that Greg wants Migle to get away from him and that he likes someone else. I'm not able to keep secrets for very long.

I continue walking throughout town, ignoring Migle calling after me. I honestly just want to be alone, but I don't think that's possible in Bonanza City because there are too many kids who want to know everything about everyone.

I end up being in the outskirts of town and I can see the fence that they use to keep all of us kids in the town and all sorts of predators out. I also see Michael and Sophia sitting and talking. I'm about to walk away, hoping that I won't get caught, but Michael spots me and calls me over. I slowly walk over and take a seat next to Sophia, who looks down on me.

I sense that Laurel's been doing some trash-talking behind my back.

"Hey Macy!" Michael greets enthusiastically, giving me a smile as if to say 'Look!-I'm-Talking-To-Sophia!', "We were just talking about the religion service."

"Oh," I mumble. Frankly, I think that they shouldn't really try. The council with the religious service, I mean. Honestly, I don't think they'd be able to do something without offending anyone so they should just leave the whole thing alone, "I take it you guys aren't going." I say, noticing that the bell –coincidentally- is ringing right now.

Again. They rang it once earlier today. It's almost six right now, and they're ringing it again.

"Yeah," Sophia says softly, "I feel like the town would get into a big fight."

Michael scoffs, "Like we haven't already."

"True dat." I add in. Michael and Sophia nod their heads and then we drift into a silence, each of us thinking our own thoughts but welcoming the presence of the other two.

I'm about to make up some excuse about having to leave, but I'm interrupted by Morgan running over to us. She has a lantern and she tells us about this religious camp-fire she's holding. Sophia, Michael, and I all exchange looks and then agree to go. It _sounds _like it'll be peaceful.

"Cool!" Says Morgan with a bright smile on her face, "Let's go."

She leads us to the fire and chatters all the way letting Michael, Sophia, or I occasionally butt in with an agreeing phase.

We finally get to the fire and I see most of the town has come. I spot Tosca standing near Taylor, Zach, Randi, Leila, Pharaoh, and a few other kids. She looks better than she did earlier, and I'm happy to see that. Olivia and Anjay are standing quite near each other and Laurel immediately pulls Sophia and Michael over to her little group. I go to join Migle, Natasha, Greg, and Blaine.

Migle gives me a look as Greg pulls me so that I'm standing next to him and I give her a shrug of my shoulders. I honestly can't do anything against this at the moment.

A bunch of the older boys then go to collect some chairs while Morgan gives a little speech that basically thanks us all for being here. The boys then come back with the chairs and Greg lets me sit on the arm-rest of his.

"What a gentleman." I drawl out sarcastically. He scoots over and pats the spot next to him and I shake my head, "Hell no."

"Well then." He shoots back. I roll my eyes and go back to listening to the kids of Bonanza City.

Hunter, Pharaoh, Zach, and Morgan all say some more speeches and then stupid Laurel calls curfew, "Night Macy!" Greg says, giving me a hug right in front of Migle. I feel really bad, but I don't get the time to apologize because she's already walking away with Randi.

"Great," I say to Natasha as we separate from the camp-fire and walk back to our bunks, "Now Laurel _and _Migle hate me."


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey! Hey!**

**OMGssss I am soooo hyper right now! So...wanna hear my story? Well Ima tell it to you anyways. :). So I went to NYC last Friday-Sunday and then leaving Thursday Morning I'm going to Philadelphia with my school until Saturday! I'm soooo excited!**

**But...there's also a little issue. It's gonna be about two weeks until my next update. I'm really, really sorry but I've just gotten so busy with school and the trips that, that is how it will have to be. **

**But anyways...thanks for the reviews!**

**They all mean so much to me. You don't even know how much I smile when I get a review. I smile a tonnnn. :)**

**Here's the next chappie...please review!**

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><p><strong>Day Twelve (Lunch until Dinner)<strong>

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><p>"Guys!" Laurel yells from her little stage in the Dining Hall. Natasha and I exchange looks from across the table. We're sitting here eating lunch, Greg and Blaine are sitting with us along with Migle, D.K., and Tosca, "We need your attention!" She yells again, this time even louder.<p>

The talking finally stops, and we all look at her. I'm wondering why she's making an announcement at lunch, because she usually makes them in the morning, but I don't say anything.

"What do you want?" Colton shouts out. Quite rudely, if I may add. Not that I care or anything, though, I mean…he's talking to Laurel. She's definitely _not _on my favorite persons list.

"We need to talk about something that's a little…awkward." Mike says, saving Laurel from any more rude comments coming her way, "We need to talk about dating."

_Great. _

I shift my glance towards Tosca, who is looking down. I know she's still a little shaken-up from yesterday and she really doesn't like Olivia anymore…so I hope this whole conversation doesn't push her too far.

Greg and I also exchange looks. I know for a fact people have seen us hug and such and I really don't want anyone to bring that up. I seriously might scream if someone does, I am not even kidding.

"If anyone's dating, just come out and say it." Laurel says, "No one will judge. We've just noticed some…_things_...and we need to get them out there."

Greg and I exchange looks one more time and I shake my head 'No'. He nods, agreeing with me and then I turn back around.

I then look up to Anjay to see him and Olivia are looking at each other. Haha…the person preaching about being open about dating and crap isn't even going to admit he and Olivia have a little fling going on.

The room is basically silent except for a few nervous giggles escaping from some of the younger kids. Every pair of eyes in the room is wandering around, wondering if the people they know who have a little "Somethin-somethin" going on will fess up.

Not that I think anyone will.

Laurel breathes out a heavy sigh, indicating that she knows people are lying. I think that's very hypocritical, though, because she obviously likes Michael. "Well?" She asks, looking around the room, "Anyone?" She pauses, her eyes resting on my table, "Macy? Greg?"

A bunch of the kids in the room turn to look at me and my jaw drops open. Before I can stop myself I let out the words, "What the fuck, Laurel?"

A bunch of the little kids in the room all let out one collective gasp, but then go back to laughing about what Laurel said. A faint blush rises to my face, and I can feel Migle glaring at me.

If that's even possible.

Greg denies the whole thing too. Laurel "Hmps" but then they dismiss us, a bunch of the kids still glaring at me for swearing and then the rest laughing hysterically.

Natasha and Tosca are two of the many kids laughing hysterically, and I lightly shove the both of them as walk towards our bunkhouse. Natasha notices that Migle doesn't look too good and she goes to check on her, leaving Tosca and I alone.

"Whatdoya wanna do?" Tosca questions, the two of sitting down on our sleeping bags in a cross-legged style.

I think for a minute, and then look over to the Italian girl, "Well…I wanna find out more about you. I've known you for like twelve days and I barely know _anything._" I say in a very exaggerated way. She laughs loud and then nods her head.

"Ten questions?" She suggests, to which I nod my head. I've played this game so many times and it never gets out. Each person asks a question and then you have to answer it. Basically you just find out so much about the other person.

"I'll start," I say, folding my hands and placing them into my lap, "Favorite color?"

"Blue."

"Purple."

"Alright…" She says, pausing to think of her questions, "Favorite animal?"

"Dolphins…they're so cute!"

"Monkeys. My mom says I act like them too much."

I laugh aloud at that statement. Of course Tosca's mom said she would act like a monkey, that _so _describes Tosca. And I'm not being sarcastic here.

"Best friend here?" I ask, nudging her with my elbow. She grins at me, "Cause for me it's a tie between you and Natasha."

"Definitely you. And then Randi's up there, too." She responds, grinning back at me and nudging me back with her elbow, "First kiss?"

"I was twelve and it was during the summer…it was with my cousin's bestfriend." I say, blushing yet smiling at that memory. It was really sweet, something that I'll always remember.

"Mine was earlier this year…in January. It was at our seventh grade winter dance with one of my guy friends." She says, also smiling and looking off in the distance.

"Favorite sport." I say, and then with a smirk added, "To watch guys play."

She laughs and then hits me on the arm, "Football."

"But you can't even tell who's who!" I exclaim, slapping down my hands in front of me, "I prefer to watch guys play baseball. Especially when they have a lot of muscles and they are wearing their cute jerseys."

She stares at me for a second before shaking her head and laughing, "You're a freak, Macy." I smile like an idiot and then she turns to me, "Favorite sport?"

"Soccer."

"Dancing."

"You dance?" I ask, looking over to her. She nods, "You any good?" She nods again, this time more shyly, and I smile, "Cool." I then pause, wondering what my question should be, "Favorite movie?"

"Toy Story!" She exclaims, "To infinity…and beyond!"

"Freakkkk." I say, lengthening the 'K', "Mine's The Vow."

"Favorite Book?" She asks, going along with the whole favorites thing.

"Hunger Games." I say, laughing at the cliché romance of Katniss-Gale-Peeta.

"Same!" Tosca exclaims brightly, hopping up and down, "We're like twins!"

"No we aren't!" I exclaim, laughing, as I hold up a piece of her dark brown hair to my super light blonde hair.

"Whatever." She scoffs, crossing her arms and sticking her tongue out at me. I roll my eyes at her in response and she sticks her tongue out again.

"Favorite season?" I question, "Mine's Summer. 'Cuz we don't have school, and we can wear bikinis and short Hollister shorts, and because I can flirt with guys all. Summer. Long."

She laughs, "Nice reasoning, Mace." She says, "Mine's Spring. Because it's my birthday."

She then thinks for the last question, but we're cut off by a knock on the door, "Come in!" Tosca shouts as Zach opens the door. For a split second, I feel like I see the two of them exchange small smiles but then Zach turns his attention to me, too.

"I have a proposition for you guys." He says. I groan. Propositions in Bonanza City are always bad things. Always, "Will you guys come help –along with the whole town- to do dishes?"

"The whole town?" I ask skeptically, raising an eyebrow. He nods and then Tosca and I exchange looks, "Why not?" I say with a shrug, standing up. Tosca does the same and we follow Zach towards the kitchen where, and I'm not even kidding, the whole town basically is.

Natasha and Migle are working with Greg and Blaine. They don't see me, and I kinda wanna keep it that way so I head over to the other side of the kitchen.

I find a free space next to Hunter, and he gladly lets me work with him.

Hunter's actually a pretty cool kid. He's the same age as me and he hasn't let himself get roped up into Laurel's rule yet, which is a plus.

We talk for a little while, but Greg finally spots me and calls me over, "See ya around." Hunter says to me with a smile in his cute southern accent. I smile back at him and wave before going over to my group of friends.

Well to be more specific: My best friend here, my second worst enemy here, the guy black-mailing me to be his girlfriend, and my best friend's dumbass boytoy.

Yup, some group of friends I got going on.


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey! Hey! Hey!**

**Happy Memorial Day! Thanks to all the Veterans and the Soldiers and everyone else who has fought for the United States! **

**Allright. Thank you to Obviously Entei, Fae, and Wicked Fangirl for your cares about my trip. It really meant a lot, you're all so sweet! And it was super fun. We went to Hershey Park and we went to a lot of places in Philly and the hotel was _awesomeeee. _Especially when all the hot guys in our grade went shirtless right across from my room. **

**But back to the story...**

**Obviously Entei: Hun, I love you. Your reviews are so sweet and so caring. And you live in NY? I live in NY, too. Cool story, bro. So yah. You better get an account soon so we can have some pretty awesome PM convos.**

**Fae: You're soooo sweet, too. And yes. There just might be some Hunter/Macy and Tosca/Zach going on...we'll have to see. Won't we? ;)**

**Wicked Fangirl: You are also amazingly sweet. And your ideas? They are FANTABULOUS! I'm totally taking them into consideration. **

**Allrighty. Thanks for the reviews, girlies. **

**Please review, as always, it makes my day. :)**

**LOVEEEE YOU! **

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><p><strong>Day Thirteen (Early Morning until before Lunch)—Town Meeting<strong>

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><p>"Guys! Guys!" I open my eyes to the voice of the nine year old in our bunk calling us as if there is a fire or something, "Guys!" She yells again, this time shaking Natasha as she points out the window, "It's snowing!"<p>

I sit up in alarm and look out the window which, to my surprise, there are heavy flakes of snow falling.

In New Mexico.

In April.

WTF?

"Are you serious?" Natasha asks in a sleepy voice, finally waking up from Mallory's morning call. Mallory and Olivia excitingly nod their heads, and then they leave to go find their friends and 'Build Snowmen' with the two inches of snow we have. Smartttt.

"I'm depressed. This is depressing." Tosca states, crawling back into her sleeping bag, "Can I just stay here all day?"

"I wish." Natasha murmurs, pulling her sleeping bag over her arms as I nod my head in agreement.

"Same." I say, but slowly begin to gather my clothes for the day. I grab some jeans and a sweatshirt and quickly change into them while in my sleeping bag. Yeah. I'm talented, "I hate snow. It never snows in North Carolina." I say.

"It snows a lot in New York." Tosca says, looking over towards me, "But I hate it."

Natasha and I nod our heads and we sit in silence for a few seconds before the door opens, revealing Anjay. I look towards Tosca whose face reads one of despair, but she quickly covers it up with a small smile.

"Hey Guys." He says with a wave, "It's time for breakfast."

"Whatever." Natasha says, glaring at the boy. She still hasn't gotten over what he did to Tosca, even if he didn't do it intentionally, "We'll be there soon."

"Yup." Tosca echoes, staring out to the streets of Bonanza. He nods and then leaves.

"I'm sorry, Tosc." I say, looking over to her as I crawl out of my sleeping bag. She shrugs her shoulders and then I go wait by the door as her and Natasha change.

"It's whatever." She mumbles as the three of us brace ourselves and then slowly step outside into the frigid weather. I pull up the hood of my sweatshirt as we make our way to the dining hall. We walk in silence and then finally reach the warmer building. I pull down my hood as we walk inside, Natasha and I walking to our table in the back and Tosca going to sit with some of the Yellow District kids.

I notice Hunter sitting with his Green District, but he catches my eye and I wave to him. He waves back and then Natasha pushes me forward to the table where there are already plates of food thanks to Greg and Blaine.

"Whatdidya do?" I ask, looking over to Greg, "Spit in it?"

He sarcastically laughs and then rolls his eyes at me, "I was being nice." He says. I stick my tongue out at him but happily gobble down the food. Hey…I'm hungry!

I look back over to the Green District table and I notice that Hunter is sitting on the end…not really talking to anyone. I look over to my table to see everyone wrapped up in some conversation, so I decide to call Hunter over, "Hunter!" I exclaim, gesturing my hand so that it looks like an invitation to our table.

Laurel looks up from her spot and shakes her head at Hunter. Hunter slowly nods his head in return and then looks back to me, shrugging his shoulders and mouthing 'Sorry'. I give him a small smile and then turn back around to see Greg glaring at me.

"What?" I ask with an edge in my voice towards him, "What did I do this time?"

He doesn't say anything, but he leans over to whisper something in D.K.'s ear. I look between the two of them as D.K. begins to laugh, and then looks over first to Tosca and then to Anjay. Then it all clicks.

Greg told D.K.

"Greg!" I exclaim, standing up and walking over to his side of the table, "I hate you!" I then proceed to hit his arm a few times as he laughs.

"I'm not gonna tell anyone." D.K. promises as we all get up to leave. Breakfast is a quick deal in this town; everyone has better things to do then to eat the crappy food we have here.

"Why would you even do that?" I ask Greg. He shrugs his shoulders and I glare at him. Before I know it, though, the two of us are left alone. Greg takes my hand and leads to me the trash pit…in the freezing cold weather, "What?" I exclaim in frustration.

"You were like _flirting _with Hunter!" Greg exclaims back. I roll my eyes at the teenage boy. We aren't even dating and he still gets jealous.

"No I wasn't!" I respond, "And even if I was…why do you care?"

"Because we need to get Migle off of my back!"

I don't respond to him, all I do is stare off into space. I don't want to talk to him and I don't feel like moving. So I'm just going to stand here and he's going to deal with it.

"I don't wanna." I finally respond.

He heaves a sigh, a frustrated sigh, but finally responds, "Fine." He says. He then takes my chin and lifts up my head, so my eyes are staring into his, "But you have to help me get Natasha to like me."

I rip my chin out of his head and slap his arm, "You like Natasha?" I exclaim, "But Blaine likes Natasha!"

He sighs and turns away from me, putting his hands into his pockets and going into a defensive mode, "I know. So I don't know what to do." He says.

For once, I actually feel sorry for the kid. I think that he really likes Natasha, or at least he's acting like it.

"I don't know what to do either." I say. He shrugs his shoulders and I shrug mine back, "Can we talk later?" He nods his head and then gives me a hug before walking away.

I stay there for a moment, still in shock about the whole thing, and then I can feel my eyes begin to water up. This whole thing is way too stressful for me…I really need a break. I walk in the opposite direction Greg did and take a seat on an abandoned building near the edge of town and I let a couple tears fall. But only because I'm alone.

"Macy?"

At least…I _thought _I was.

I turn my head up to see Hunter standing there, holding a bucket of water in his right hand. He sees my face and immediately takes a seat next to me, "What's wrong?" He asks with genuine concern in his voice, his crystal blue eyes searching my eyes as if looking for an answer.

"I hate it here right now." I reply, chocking on my words but managing to get them out, "Laurel's a bitch to me, Greg's put me in a really bad place, and Migle's pissed at me. I don't know what to do." I say, completely venting to him, "But you can go. I doubt you want to hear this." I say, looking over to him and half-hoping that he'll want to stay here with me.

"I want to stay, Macy."

_Score. _

I give him a small smile and he returns it, "What does Laurel say about me?" I finally ask, looking at him, "You're in her district, after all."

He sighs and runs his hand through his hair, "You might not want to hear it…" He warns.

I shake my head, "Tell me."

"She calls you a lot of bad names. She says you just want the guy's attention. Basically stuff like that." He says. He's not looking at me and I can tell he's scared I'm going to make some outburst.

I'm not, though.

I totally expected that. Actually, I expected a lot worse.

"Great." I say sarcastically as I wipe my eyes, hoping that my mascara didn't smear because if I did I would look like a very ugly raccoon.

"So tell me about you and Greg…what's up with that?" Hunter questions, giving me a curious look.

"It's a long story." I say, warning him. He nods his head, as if to say 'Tell me' and I basically tell him everything. Everything from who Tosca likes to when Greg told me to help him to Greg and my last conversation just a little while ago.

And do you wanna know the best thing?

Hunter was sitting there the whole time and paying attention to every single word I've said. No one does that to me. Ever.

"Wow…" Hunter finally says when I finish my story, "I'm sorry Mace. Is there anything I can do?"

I shake my head, "No…it's fine, I guess. I think I've somehow worked my way out of it…maybe…" I say, my voice trailing.

I guess I really didn't work my way out of this, though. I mean, Greg still wants my help. Greg could still tell anyone he wanted about Tosca's secret.

"Do you want me to talk to Greg?" Hunter asks me in a stern voice, almost in a voice full of confidence.

I shake my head in alarm at a very fast rate, "No. No. Don't do that." I say, giving him a pleading look, "It'll only make things worse." I add in.

"Alright…" Hunter replies in an unsure voice, "If you're sure…"

"I am." I say, giving him a smile, "Thanks, Hunter."

"No problem." He replies, standing up and then giving me his hand to help me up. He gives me a hug and we walk back a little ways into town together before parting, "I'll always be here, Macy." He says, right before he leaves.

"I know. Thanks again." I reply back, walking towards my bunkhouse feeling about a hundred times better than before.


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey!**

**Thanks for the reviews last chapter. Really. They mean a lot. :D**

**Oh, and thanks for all the amazing suggestions...I'm totally taking them all into consideration. And you'll totally get credit if I take any of your ideas, for example, the basis of this chapter is Obviously Entei's idea!**

**Anyways...I have finals. This week and next week. So writing is kind of on the bottom of my to-do list. So, in short, I may have to take a two/three week break. I'M SORRY!**

**But PLEASEEEE review. Thanks! :D**

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><p><strong>Day Fourteen (Breakfast until Mid-Afternoon)<strong>

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><p>"I hate the blue district." I complain to Natasha while spooning mouthfuls of oatmeal into my mouth. She nods her head in agreement, "Anjay is a sucky leader." I add in, casting a glare towards the table where Anjay is sitting.<p>

"He so totally is." Natasha agrees.

Anjay really is a bad leader. He isn't strong. He doesn't take control. He doesn't have any authority over us, heck, about half the kids of our district are older than him! Sure, he's smart, but he doesn't show us that he can control a bunch of rowdy thirteen, fourteen, and fifteen year olds.

"Who is what?" Greg asks, butting his head into our conversation. I shoot him a look and then he gives me one back.

"We were talking about how bad of a leader Anjay is." Natasha explains. She's leaning in towards Greg and smiling at him, they're totally flirting and the thought of that sickens me. Especially because Blaine looks so depressed. He's just kind of sitting there and I can tell that he's annoyed at the fact that his best friend here is trying to steal away the girl he likes.

"He so does." Greg says with a nod of his head. I roll my eyes at him. He's totally trying to act cool for Natasha, and Natasha is totally falling for it. I should have warned her about all of this.

After my conversation with Hunter yesterday I just kind of moped around and all I told Natasha was that Greg didn't need me to pretend that I like him anymore. I'm pretty sure she told Migle that, because Migle has been giving me smiles all morning.

"Guys!"

I turn my head to see (What a surprise) the four council leaders on the small stage of the dining hall.

"We have an announcement." Laurel says, her New England accent ringing through the big room. She pauses, as if for the excitement to build or something, and then continues, "We're going to be having district elections."

The room is silent, and then a few kids burst into cheers. Most of those cheers are coming from the yellow and the red districts but I won't lie…I let out a cheer or two myself.

No offense to Anjay or anything…but he _really _needs to get out of office. It just needs to happen.

They hold a quick question-and-answer session and then dismiss us with a warning that anyone running will need to have a speech prepared by later this afternoon.

"So who's gonna run against Anjay?" I question to Tosca, Natasha, Greg, and Blaine as the five of us walk out of the dining hall and into the streets of Bonanza. Greg is standing awfully close to Natasha, and then Blaine, Tosca, and I are walking together a few steps away from them.

Blaine keeps giving them looks every few seconds and I'm _really _starting to feel bad for the kid. I'm going to have to talk to Natasha about this later.

"What about you, Macy?" Natasha asks, looking over to me with a curious look. I give her a 'Hell-no' look in return and she just shrugs her shoulders, "What? You're outgoing, strong, and smart. People like you and you like people. I'd work." She says.

"Thanks…but no. I'm not a political person." I say with an eyeroll, "This." I say, pointing up and down myself, "Doesn't run for any office."

"Well it should." Tosca says, nudging me in the stomach with her elbow, "You'd be a helluva lot better leader than Anjay. Heck, _anyone _would be a helluva lot better leader than Anjay!" She exclaims, throwing her hands up into the air and giving me a look of exasperation.

"True dat." Blaine echoes, also nudging me in the stomach, "You should run, Mace."

"You're going to run for district leader, Macy?" A voice questions. A _snotty _voice questions, might I add. The five of us turn around to come face-to-face with Olivia, Mallory, and Nathan.

"No." I say.

"Yes." Natasha says at the same time.

The two of us turn to look at each other and I stick my tongue out at her and then she gladly returns the favor.

"Well _I'm _running." Olivia says, placing a hand over her chest and emphasizing the 'I'm' part, "And I've already got three votes in the bag." She adds in. I roll my eyes. Olivia is such a conceited brat, it's not even funny.

I also have so many enemies in Bonanza City. That's not very funny, either.

"I am too." I say, placing my hands on my hips and walking towards Olivia, "And I've got five votes in my bag." I add in, looking her dead in the eyes. She backs away and then Mallory tugs her arm, pulling her away.

I turn back around to see all four of them smiling at me, "Now you _have _to run." Natasha says, dragging me by the arm to our bunkhouse, "Let's go prepare your speech!"

"Ughhhh." I complain, reluctantly letting Natasha pull me.

"Allright. What do you want your campaign angle to be?" Tosca asks sitting Indian style on the floor. I shrug my shoulders. I have to clue what I want it to be, I don't even want to be the leader. I just want to beat Olivia and Anjay, "Let's go for the person who everyone can be friends with." Tosca says, using her hands as if there is a billboard and she's reading the words off of it.

"Yeah. Like _that'll _work. I have like five people that hate me here." I complain, dropping my head into my hands and pouting.

"Migle doesn't hate you, Macy." Natasha says. I look up towards her and she nods her head, "She was just a little mad. We're girls. It happens all the time." She adds in.

I shrug my shoulders slightly, "I guess…" I mumble, "Should I talk to her?"

"Not right now. You can talk to her later, though. We have a speech to right now."

"Greatttt." I say sarcastically, rolling my eyes as Natasha and Tosca put their brains together to try and figure out what I should say.

The bell rings, signaling that it's time for the district-leader-candidates and the already-district-leaders to give their speeches.

Natasha, Tosca, and I have been working (And gossiping) for almost two hours…and I'm pumped. My speech is probably the best thing ever.

"You ready?" Natasha asks as we walk out of the bunk house and towards the chapel where there is a platform on top of the chapel. Ironic that there wasn't one there yesterday, but there's one today. Right?

"I so am." I respond to Natasha, jumping up and down. It kind of gets out of control and I almost run over Hunter and Eric…,"Sorry!" I exclaim, covering my mouth, "I'm really sorry!"

I can hear Natasha and Tosca snickering in the background and I feel my face turn red.

"It's all good, Macy." Hunter says with a smile. I smile back at him and Eric laughs, nudging Hunter who also turns red.

"Well I'm gonna go. See ya there." I say with a wave, walking back over to Natasha, Tosca, and Migle who has joined us.

Natasha and Tosca are recovering from their hysterics and I roll my eyes at them, "Jerks." I mutter, sticking my tongue out at them.

We're at the chapel now and we're stuck in a huge group of people. The four district leaders are up on the platform and everyone else is surrounding them.

"Hey Macy…" Migle says softly. I turn around and she's standing behind me, her arms open as if looking for a hug. I give her one, "I'm sorry." She says into my ear. I take a step back and shake my head.

"It's my fault. I'm sorry too." I say, "Can we just forget about the whole thing?"

"Totally." She says with a smile.

"Cool." I reply, turning my attention back to the platform where the leaders are asking who's going to run against them.

Only Guylan ends up running against Mike. Both of them give a quick and short speech and if I was in that district, I'd vote for Guylan.

Zach runs against Taylor.

"You should've run." I say, nudging Migle in the stomach with my elbow. She gives me a look and I shrug my shoulders innocently, "I'm running." I add in.

Her mouth drops open, "Really?"

"Yup."

Our attention then turns back to the two little kids. Taylor has a really short and no-meaning speech. Zach's is definitely better and I'm almost positive that he is going to win.

"He's a cutie." I whisper into Tosca's ear.

"Shut up." She replies, slapping me lightly on the arm and then returning back to watching Zach.

Anjay then performs his speech. It's boring and mine is ten times better. Then Olivia goes…she's going on and on about how this isn't a popularity contest and she's looking directly at Blaine, Greg, Tosca, and Natasha throughout all of it.

Then it's my turn.

A couple of the younger kids clap for me as I walk towards the stage and Laurel gives me a look when I stand directly in front of her.

"Hey Bonanza City!" I exclaim, waving to the kids.

"Hey Macy!" Greg and Blaine yell back. I laugh at them and then continue on with my speech.

"Allright. So I really wanna be district leader. I'm a fun person and I just want to bring some fun to this town. I want us to be able to become a really close, fun, and working town and I think I'll be able to do that. Just kidding. I _know _I'll be able to do that. Cool? Allright. So vote for me." I say, smiling.

A bunch of the kids clap and I walk down the steps. Aww yeah. I have this in the bag. Even though I kinda don't want it…

"Good job, Macy." Hunter says as soon as I reach the ground, giving me a hug. I return it and then look up towards Laurel.

"Thanks." I say, "Who's running against Laurel?"

"No one." He says, looking towards the ground and kicking the dirt around with his feet.

"Are you kidding me?" I exclaim, "I might have to work with _her?" _ He shrugs his shoulders and I try to calm down, "Why don't you run?" I ask.

"She's been doing a good job." He says, trying to stand up for her but not really succeeding.

"Omigod. You guys are all freakin' hypnotized by her." I say, angrily walking away from him.

"What?" He says, catching my arms and pulling me back, "What did you say?"

"You're. All. Hypnotized. By. Her." I say, spitting out each word, "And it's stupid."

"That's not true." He says, and I can tell that he's getting angry, "And I don't want to hear it from someone who doesn't know that Laurel's actually a good person."

"Just go away, Hunter." I say, storming away from him to Natasha, Tosca, and Migle.

"I was planning on it." He shoots back.

As soon as I get to the girls, I feel majorly guilty. I didn't mean to make Hunter mad…I feel really bad about it now. Especially because we were becoming such good friends and he's done nothing but be nice to me.

And I was just a total bitch to him.

Greatttt.


	15. Chapter 15

**I'M BACKKKKKK!**

**Omigod. I am _soooo _sorry that I've been gone forever. It's just that school got in the way of EVERYTHING. But it's out! And now I can write! Yayyyy. **

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><p><strong>Day Fifteen (Showdown until Night)—Showdown<strong>

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><p>"All-Right. We're gonna kick some other district ass. Got it, Blue-ies?" I yell loudly to the four other girls of the blue district. Tosca and Natasha laugh, as they usually do, at my pre-showdown warmup but Olivia and Mallory just exchange looks.<p>

I can see that Mallory's biting her lip, as if trying not to laugh, but her stupid older sister's got her on a leash. It's idiotic.

But honestly, you can cut the tension with a knife in here. It's just really tense because Olivia and I are competing against each other, and both of us want it. I just want it to say that I beat Olivia and Anjay…but still. I want it.

And it's even tenser because Tosca and Natasha are on my side and Mallory is on Olivia's side and that's not going to change. Not ever.

"Well are you pumped?" I ask while placing my hands on my hips and looking over to Mallory and Olivia. They both just stand there and then Olivia shrugs her shoulders.

"I say we just don't talk to each other until the elections over. All-right?" She says with a snotty voice. I give Tosca and Natasha looks but then nod my head.

"Whatever." I say, walking towards the door of the room and then looking back over my shoulder to Tosca and Natasha, "Wanna go meet up with the boys?"

They both nod their heads and then the three of us leave our bunks and walk across the town to where the boys huts are (The producers insisted that the four girl bunks were to be on one side and that the four boy bunks were to be on the opposite).

"Am I the only one who thinks Olivia is a total bitch?" I question, looking to both of the girls standing on either side of me.

"You're not alone." Natasha mutters, looking forward towards the bunkhouse where Greg and Blaine are standing outside and acting like idiots. I still don't know which one she likes. Not that it matters, though, because she doesn't know that either like her.

"Hey!" Greg calls out, waving to the three of us. Blaine slaps him on the back of the head and says something to him and then the two get into a fake-fight. They do that a lot, and it's really hysterical. It's just really fun being around both of them in general because they're both very funny.

"Hey Blondie!" Greg adds in, smirking at me.

They can also be _very _annoying.

"Can it, Greg." I say with a glare towards the fifteen year old. He smirks at me again and I roll my eyes.

"SHOWDOWN TIME!" A voice calls out from the distance. The five of us look at each other and then leap off in a jog towards the field where the showdowns are always held. It's a really short jog to the place and when we get there all I see in a _ton _of red, white, and blue.

"What the butt?" Natasha asks as we file into the sections cut off for the blue district. Natasha and I take two spots near the back of the group as Jonathan begins explaining the game to us.

I pay attention for a little but then I feel someone poking my arm. I shift my glance to Natasha, "What?" I hiss, looking between her and Jonathan.

"How many votes do you think you have?"

Well. This conversation is totally not going to let me pay attention at all, so I just give up with Jonathan and his instructions.

"Me. You." I say, looking at her to make sure I have her vote. She nods her head as enthusiastically as possible and then I continue, "Tosca. Maybe."

"Let's see." Natasha says, poking Tosca in the arm, "Are you gonna vote for Macy?"

"Hell yah." Tosca says with a smile, "Chicks before dicks." She adds in with a smirk.

"Oh no." I say, looking towards Natasha and Tosca with a grin, "I'm growing on the twelve-year old. I'm a bad influence!" I exclaim in a whisper.

Natasha, Tosca, and I all have to cover our mouths to keep from laughing out loud and getting in trouble. Anjay and Nathan eye us suspiciously and Blaine and Greg give us weird looks.

"Do I have Greg and Blaine?" I ask, my eyes drifting up towards the backs of the tall, brown-haired boy and his bushy-haired blonde best friend.

"I think so…" Natasha says thoughtfully. She then taps Greg on the shoulder, basically climbing over Alex to do so, "Are you gonna vote for Macy?" She whispers when he turns around, Blaine also looking back at us.

Greg nods his head, "Totally." He says and then with her thumb jerking towards Blaine, "This idiot is too."

"Hey!" Blaine exclaims, hitting Greg on the shoulder. Jonathan shoots us a glare and the five of us mumble apologizes before beginning to crack up again.

The game begins to start and Natasha looks over to me, "There's five votes. You win, Mace." She says with a smile.

"Aww yeah." I mutter, turning my attention towards the game.

Basically, the game is where you have to go break a piñata and then find a card of a president and then our district leader has to put it in order. The game goes by fast, and soon enough it's my turn to go.

I grab the blue baseball bat from Mallory and then sprint into the field, taking a piñata near the center. Out falls a card of George Washington. I then run back to the base, hand it to Anjay, hand the bat to Natasha and run to the back of the line.

She goes too and then the cycle repeats. Finally, the yellow district finishes in first. Green are the merchants, red are the cooks, and we're the freaking laborers.

Funnnn.

Not.

"Are you kidding me?" I exclaim as we walk away from the challenge after receiving our prize (Fresh fruits and veggies _and _subway for dinner tomorrow night!), "How the hell did we get stuck as laborers?"

I look around the group of the blue district kids. Anjay, Nathan, and Alex continue to walk forward without looking back at me. Olivia shoots me a glare, probably for swearing, and my friends just follow along silently. I roll my eyes.

After no one says anything for a little while our group separates on the way back to the town. Greg comes up to my side and surprisingly, Blaine is nowhere near him. "Macy?" He asks, looking down at me.

"Yes?" I question, crossing my arms and giving Greg a side-glance.

"Can you meet me by the far fence in like thirty minutes? We need to talk."

I look around to make sure no one is listening, specifically, Hunter because I need to talk to him about whatever happened yesterday. Then I nod my head, looking up to Greg.

He then walks away and I continue on the walk back to town. A group of red district kids including Jared, the kid I sat with on the bus, pass by me and I wave to them. They wave back and then we're finally in town.

I'm actually the last one back to the bunkhouse so I quickly change out of my showdown gear and back into normal clothes and then I begin the long walk to the fence.

I've only been to this fence twice, but whenever I walk there I'm always alone so I usually take the time to think. You really don't have a lot of privacy in Bonanza. Your business if everyone's business. So I treasure these long walks.

I begin to think about Hunter…what I said to him yesterday. I didn't really mean it; it just came out like that. I want to apologize to him. But I don't know how…or when. And even if I did apologize…he'd probably just get mad again. I'm not very good with words…

Before I know it, I'm out at the fence. Greg already there, sitting by himself. By the look on his face I can tell that he's thinking, too.

"Greg?" I call out, hoping to get the attention of the older boy. He shakes his head as if to knock himself out of his thoughts and then switches his gaze to me.

"Hey Mace." He says, giving me a smile and then patting the spot on the fence next to him. I walk over and hop on the fence.

The sun in starting to set and it's making a really pretty sky. The colors are swirling together, and it's hard not to get lost in it.

"What's up?" I ask, looking at the dark-haired boy.

"I'm sorry." He says quietly. My jaw drops a little. Never in a hundred years did I think Greg would be apologizing for something.

I shrug my shoulders, though, when he looks at me. He then gives me an awkward side hug, and I punch him lightly in the arm, laughing as I do so, "You're a freak, Gregory." I say.

"Aw thanks, Mace." He says, also laughing. He then turns serious once again, "And I promise I won't tell anyone else."

I smile towards him again, "Thanks Greg. Really." I say with all the sincerity I can muster, "But who knows?"

He thinks for a moment.

"Me. Blaine. Eric, D.K., Hunter, and Michael." He says, not allowing himself to make eye contact with me. I take a deep breath and try to allow myself from getting too upset.

"And they won't tell anyone else?" I say with complete faith in them, even though I know I shouldn't be giving them any.

"I promise."

We sit in silence for a few moments and then Greg taps my shoulder, "Macy?" I look at him and he continues, "Will you help me with Natasha?"

I cringe. That was the one question I wanted to avoid. I think Greg notices because he seems to shrink back, "Nevermind." He says, giving me a hug, "I'll see ya tomorrow, Macy."

And with that, he jumps off the fence and begins the walk into Bonanza.

I sit on the fence a little while longer, until he's out of sight, and then I too walk back to the city. Ready to face whatever tomorrow brings me.


	16. Chapter 16

***Peeps head into room* **

**Uh. Hi? Anyone around...?**

**Ugh. You all probably hate me right now. This chapter is so late and I really have no excuse other than I've been lounging by pools and enjoying my Summer. I'm sorry. I really am. I'm going to try to get more on top of things now, though, I PROMISE!**

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* * *

><p><strong>Day Sixteen (Town Meeting until Late Night)<strong>

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><p>I am about to shoot myself.<p>

This has to be the longest town meeting yet, and we still have to give out the gold star and hold district elections. I think I am going to cry.

I'm sitting in the middle of Natasha and Tosca. Tosca is resting her head on my shoulder and Natasha has yawned for probably the millionth time today. I'm bored to tears and Laurel _finally _stands up to announce who has won the gold star.

Never thought I'd be glad to see Laurel in my life…but hey, there's a first time for everything!

"Alright guys, this was a really hard decision. It was between two people the whole way through but we finally decided on…Greg."

The room erupts into applause and I turn around to give Greg a smile as he walks to the front of the room, accepting high-fives from kids as he does so. He gives a short speech and I think he's tearing up. On the way back, Natasha gives him a hug and he sits back down on the bench with a smile on his face.

"Congrats Greg." I say, smiling at the boy behind me one last time before turning around to listen to whatever else Jonathan has to say that bores the rest of us.

The elections then take place. Jonathan hands out district-colored cards to all of us and then lets us write down we want. I write down my name, obviously, and then walk up to the ballot box.

Within about twenty minutes everything is counted and it has already been decided that eleven year old Guylan will replace Mike on the Red District and twelve year old Zach will replace Taylor. Laurel is keeping her spot, seeing as no one is running against her, and Jonathan begins to announce the votes for my district.

"Anjay."

_That's Anjay's vote._

"Olivia."

_Olivia's vote. _

"Macy."

_My vote. _

"Anjay."

_We're all good. Everything is okay. It's only 2-1-1. _

"Olivia."

_Everything is still okay. Deep breaths, Mace, deep breaths. _

"Macy."

_SCORE!_

"Olivia."

_Well Anjay's obviously out with a score of 2-3-2_

"Macy."

_2-3-3_

"Macy."

_2-3-4_

"Macy."

_2-3-5_

"Macy wins!"

A smile breaks out onto my face as most of the kids of Bonanza begin to clap for me. Greg gives my shoulders a squeeze and Tosca and Natasha engulf me in a hug before I walk to the platform where the district leaders sit.

Laurel is glaring daggers into me, but I ignore her and give Anjay a hug, "Watch out for Laurel." He says into my ear before walking back down to the seats. I'll have to ask him about that later…

The new council sits before Bonanza City one more time before Jonathan dismisses us all to the Saloon for our Subway Dinner/Party which we won at the showdown yesterday. Boy, I'm looking forward to that. There hasn't been a really party in Bonanza since the first week!

Everyone is leaving and Laurel pulls me back, seeing as we were already some of the last people, and I give her a questioning look. Is she going to congratulate me?

"Don't get in my way, Macy." She says with a glare, "I'm the leader of the council. Got it?"

I roll my eyes. So _this _is what Anjay was talking about. Well, at least I'll have some fun gossip to bitch about to Tosca and Natasha every night.

I quickly walk out of the big barn and on the streets of Bonanza to the Saloon where there is already music playing, people talking and laughing, and tons of sandwiches being eaten. I grab a sub and then go over to sit with Migle, Natasha, Greg, and Blaine.

"Congrats to our new leader." Blaine says with a smile and a blush comes to my face.

"Oh, shut up." I say, hiding my face behind my hand as all my friends laugh. Everyone seems to be in a good mood, except for Anjay and Olivia who are moping in the corner. Speaking of Anjay…Tosca better be over him by now because Zach's been checking her out a _ton _lately. I'll have to talk to her about that later…

We continue to eat our subs for about fifteen minutes and have boring conversations. When most of the town is done eating, the real party begins. The cameras leave and the music gets turned up. Migle, Natasha, and I huddle together and I tell them my plan about how we should get Zach and Tosca together…and they love the idea.

"C'mon, Mace, let's get Zach. You grab Tosca, Meg." Natasha instructs, pulling me to the other side of the room where a group of boys stand, "Zachhhh!" Natasha exclaims, getting the boy's attention. He looks to us, ignoring the wolf-whistles of the boys behind him because Natasha and I want his attention. Natasha makes a gesture for him to come over to us and he does.

"What's up?" He asks while taking a sip of the root-beer in his left hand.

"Tosca." I reply, jutting my head in the direction of Migle who is practically begging Tosca to come over to talk to us. His face turns red and I begin to smile, "I know you like her, Zach, and I know she likes you back." I say, somewhat lying but not exactly.

He smiles and then shakes his head, "I don't know, Macy." He says, making a move to go back to his friends but being stopped by a 'Hi Zach' coming from a certain brown-eyed, brown-haired Italian named Tosca.

He turns around and he has a light blush on his cheeks, but so does Tosca, and then mutters, "Hey Tosca."

Tosca gives me a look that means we should leave, so I pull Natasha and Migle behind me with a quick, "See ya!"

"Do you think she's mad?" Natasha asks as soon as we're out of earshot.

"Yah." Migle and I reply at the same time, laughing after we realize what we did, "But she'll get over it." I add.

We stand and talk for a few more minutes, but then we're separated by Migle going to Randi and Blaine calling Natasha over. I didn't want to follow them because it's obvious Greg and Blaine would both be vying for her attention within minutes and I didn't really know Randi that well, either. So, because I didn't want to look like a complete idiot, I decided that it was time to talk to Hunter again. Hopefully I'll be able to fix things between us.

I walk over to the corner table where all the Green District boys are sitting and I'm greeted by Michael and Campbell. Eric and Hunter are ignoring me, obviously. Or that just don't like me…I don't think many people of the Green District do.

"Hey," I say in reply, flashing them a smile. I then look to Hunter who's looking at me with a blank expression on his face…but his aqua-colored eyes are piercing into mine, "Can we talk?" I ask, shuffling back and forth on my feet. I don't usually get nervous talking to guys…but I really am with Hunter.

"I guess." Hunter says, standing up and leading me to the bar where no one is really around. We sit on two of the stools and he gestures for me to talk.

"I just wanted you to know I'm sorry about what I said the other day." I blurt out _way _to fast. I'm terrible at apologies. I don't know why, I just am.

He shrugs his shoulder, "It's okay. I'm not really one to hold grudges or anything and you're a good friend of mine." He says.

I smile and I can feel a light blush rising to my face, "So we're cool?" I clarify.

He nods his head, "Totally." He gets up to leave because Sophia and Laurel are calling him but he turns his head over his shoulder to say one last thing to me, "Congrats on council." He says with a smile.

"Oh yah." I say, smiling back, "Thanks."

He chuckles as he walks away and then I feel someone grab my arm and pull me to a table. Clarification. That is Natasha and Migle pulling me to a table.

"Why are Greg and Blaine fighting over Natasha?" Migle blurts, earning her a stern look from Natasha who looks back at me with a shrug of her shoulders.

"What's the obvious answer to that question?" I ask while looking between the two girls.

"They don't…" Natasha says, her sentence left hanging as she turns to look at the boys standing a ways behind us.

I nod my head.

"Yah…I don't really like Greg anymore." Migle says, also looking at the boys behind us, "I think Blaine's cute. But if he likes Natasha…" She says.

"I don't like Blaine." Natasha says, giving Migle a reassuring nudge, "I kinda like Michael." She whispers. My gaze shifts to the blonde-haired boy who is talking with Sophia, "I know him and Sophia have a thing though." Natasha says, almost reading my mind.

"I think we're just in a really big love triangle." I state, looking around at the kids of Bonanza City. Yeah, that's it.

We're in a _really _big love triangle.


	17. Chapter 17

**I'M SORRY!**

**I'm superrrr late. I'm really, really, really sorry. But the chapter's longer than usual...so that's good. Right? **

**Anyways, how has your guyses summer been? Mine's been GREAT. Pretty boring...but I loveeeee summer! **

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><p><strong>Day Seventeen (Morning until Before Showdown and then a tad bit after it)-Showdown<strong>

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><p>"Macy."<p>

I roll over in my sleeping bag and open my eyes to figure out who is calling me at the crack of Dawn on this lovely morning. Sarcasm, obviously. The person is Zach, and he's crouched down by my sleeping bag and still has a hand on my arm.

"What do you want?" I whisper-yell with a glare at the boy. He just woke me up from my peaceful slumber. I don't care that him and one of my best friends here (Tosca, obvi.) have a thing. If you wake me up, you're screwed.

"We need to wake up the town." He replies, looking around the room to make sure no one is stirring. If you wake anyone up in my district, you're also screwed. Overall, my district likes to sleep. A lot.

I groan but pull myself out of the warmth of my sleeping bag and into the cool air. I pull on a sweatshirt over my tee-shirt that I wear to bed and I slip on my converse. I leave my blonde wavy curls as they are naturally and follow Zach out the door, trying to be as quiet as I can.

We walk silently to the Chapel where we will ring the bell to wake everyone up and read the journal as everyone begins their morning jobs. I stuff my hands into the pocket of my sweatshirt and Zach zips up his coat all the way.

The days might be hot here in Bonanza, but the nights and mornings sure aren't.

We finally reach the Chapel where Laurel and Guylan are standing. Laurel looking at me with a glare, "Took you long enough." She says. I roll my eyes and don't respond to her.

"Welcome to the Chapel." Laurel says, gesturing towards the Chapel and smiling at the two boys but losing the smile as she turns to me, "Who wants to ring the bell?"

"Can I?" Zach asks excitedly, a smile breaking out on his face. Laurel nods her head and he rings the bell a couple times and we can only hope that everyone will soon begin to wake up.

"So do we go read the journal now?" I questions, gesturing towards the open door of the Chapel. Laurel nods her head and walks into the building, the three of us following her. She takes a seat at the middle of the table where the book is sitting. The boys sit on either side of her and I take a seat next to Zach, who gives me a small smile.

We take turns reading the journal, making sure the cameramen get what they need. Basically, the journal is about all the trash piling up in Bonanza and how we should put it into wagons, walk about a mile away from the city, dig a hole, and bury it.

Of course this is what happens when I get on council.

Laurel goes to get the chalkboards from the corner of the Chapel and we each begin to list people in our district that we think should help with this job.

I go through each person in my district.

Mallory, Olivia, Nathan, and Alex were definite "No's". They were all just not cut out for the job. I decided that I would take Greg and Blaine (Obviously), Anjay (Because he would be doing this anyways if he was on council), and Natasha and Tosca (Because I'm not doing this alone).

We all decide that we'll tell everyone at breakfast and get it all done before the Showdown. We're about to get up and leave, but Laurel stops us.

"Guys, wait up." She says. The boys pause and come around the table to look at her and I stay in my sit, looking at all of them with a blank expression on my face. This outta be good, "So…there's a little thing you all have to do…it's called the Council Acceptance."

I roll my eyes. This is freaking bullshit. Laurel smirks at me and then looks back at the boys, who are totally believing it.

"You guys all need to take over the Green Districts jobs until the Showdown after this one." She says.

I stifle a laugh. It's only because she knows she's going to get laborers again and she doesn't feel like working. I'm about to say something, but Guylan cuts me off.

"Allright, cool." He says and Zach nods, agreeing with him. Then they both turn to me.

"No." I say, shaking my head, "This is total bullshit. I'm not doing it."

"You have to." Laurel counters, glaring at me.

I roll my eyes and her and storm out of the Chapel. It's time for breakfast, anyways, and I'm starved. I need to get a good breakfast in if we want to do well on this stupid garbage thing.

I eat breakfast fast and I only get in a short, meaningless conversation with Tosca, Natasha, and Migle before Zach drags me up to the stage for the announcement. Laurel briefs the town about what we are doing and then we each names some kids from our districts.

"Sophia, Morgan, Michael, Eric, and Hunter." Laurel says, looking at her district as they all nod, happily going along with it.

"Mike, D.K., Markelle, Jasmine, and Kelsey." Guylan adds in for his district. I can see Markelle and Mike exchanging looks of disappointment, but D.K, Jasmine, and Kelsey all share smiles. The three of them have gotten _super _close these past two and a half weeks.

Zach gestures for me to go and I name off, "Greg, Blaine, Anjay, Natasha, and Tosca." Greg and Blaine high-five and Natasha and Tosca shoot glares my way, I just smirk back towards them.

Zach finally goes, "Randi, Migle, Colton, Pharaoh, Leila, and Taylor." He says, adding in a smirk when he comes to Leila and Taylor.

"No way!" Taylor exclaims loudly. I roll my eyes at her. I haven't hung out with her much, but I know that she can act like a major spoiled brat. And she's a Pageant Queen.

"You guys ready?" Guylan asks, earning nods from the selected kids as we all walk outside to the garbage hut. Laurel gives a brief rundown of what we're doing and then we begin to work. I immediately walk over to where Greg, Blaine, Natasha, Migle, Hunter, and D.K. have gathered and begun to work.

"Hey." They all say when I come over. I give them a smile back and then pick up a shovel and begin to scoop trash into a wagon. It's a _reallyyy _nasty job.

I look around for Tosca and I notice that she's with Zach, Randi, Colton…basically of the Yellow District. I'm also surprised that Hunter's hanging out with us and that he's not following Michael or Eric around. I have noticed that him and Blaine have become pretty good friends, though.

"Why'd you have to pick me?" Natasha whines as she places a piece of random woods into the cart. I shrug my shoulders and smirk at my best friend who pokes me in the side. She makes a grab for another piece of wood and is about to pick it up when a rat…or mouse…comes running out from underneath it. She shrieks and runs into Blaine who is standing behind her, she buries her head into his shoulder and he laughs, rubbing her back.

Greg is glaring at Blaine but all Blaine's doing is smiling down at Natasha. Me and Migle exchange eye-rolls and Hunter smirks towards me.

Blaine and Natasha actually have a really good relationship. They're really close friends and I know she thinks of him as her best guy-friend here. To be completely honest…I think she might be saying she likes Michael as a coverup because she doesn't want to get involved in Blaine and Greg's fight over her.

After a couple more seconds Blaine lets go of her. Both their faces are pink and they're both looking downward, trying to avoid the awkward looks we're all giving them.

Migle starts laughing hysterically and I join in on it. Blaine shoots me a look and Natasha pokes Migle in the side, both using their actions to tell us to shut up but neither Migle nor I listening to them.

"Are you guys working?" Laurel asks, coming over to us.

I roll my eyes and then plaster a huge fake smile on my face, "Of course we are Laurel!" I say with all the fake-cheeriness I can muster, "I'm a council leader…so duhhh." I add in.

"Okayyy. Well Leila and Taylor aren't helping so me and Zach are gonna deal with them. Guylan's going to lead you guys out to where everything is going to be buried. Follow him."

"Yes ma'am." I say with as much sarcasm as I can muster. Laurel gives me a look and then walks away. As soon as she's out of earshot everyone starts laughing hysterically. We then begin to pull the wagons out of the trashpit, and Hunter and I are pulling one together. Migle and Greg are taking one and then Blaine, Natasha, and D.K. have one, too.

"You guys really hate each other…don't you?" He questions. I shrug my shoulders and he raises his eyebrows.

"I guess we just hated each other when we saw each other. Bad vibes or something. I'm sure she's a nice girl…it's just our personalities clash." He looks at me like I've spoken a completely different languages and I let out a giggle, "Girl drama." I finally say and he smiles, nodding his head.

"Got it." He adds him, smiling some more. When he smiles his turquoise-colored eyes sparkle…, "What?" He asks, breaking me out of my thoughts.

"Hm?" I question, looking back up at him (He's a good two or three inches taller than me).

"You we're blanking out…" He says and I can feel my face turning pink. I always blank out and people always are like 'What the heck is wrong with you?.'

"Sorry." I mumble, turning away so he doesn't see my blush.

"It's fine." He says with a laugh. I smile back and then we come to a stop. Laurel and Zach have finally joined us again –without Taylor and Leila- and we start to dig the hole.

Well, Blaine and Greg start to dig the hole. The rest of us just stand there awkwardly while the cameras circle around us, seeing if they can pick up any conversation.

"We'll take turns." Zach finally calls out, the rest of us nodding their heads. Greg and Blaine look at each other and shrug their shoulders; everyone knows they can do this all day if they wanted to.

I say bye to Hunter and then move over to where Natasha and Migle are. Tosca's still with the Yellows and Hunter and D.K. went to talk with Markelle, Michael, and Eric.

"I still think you like Blaine." I whisper into Natasha's ear, loud enough so that Migle can also hear but quiet enough that no one else can.

"Well I obviously shouldn't like Michael." Natasha says, gesturing to where Sophia and Michael are standing. Extremely close to each other, might I add.

"So you like Blaine?" Migle questions again. Natasha shrugs her shoulders and Migle continues, "Because he obviously likes you."

Natasha's face goes red and she's probably recalling the incident from earlier today, "What's wrong with your face, Tash?" Greg asks, walking over to us with Blaine on his tail.

"Nothing." She blurts out, a little too quickly. Greg raises his eyebrows but laughs it off, Blaine does to. I look over to the hole, it's almost done now…but Guylan's having some difficulty with it. Mike hands Guylan's shovel and the poor kids runs over to sit under the wagon. I feel bad…but this all needs to get done before the showdown.

Michael and I quickly finish the hole and everyone begins to pile in trash. The job gets done quickly in about fifteen minutes and then we begin the trek home. This time I take a wagon with Natasha and Migle and Migle and I continue pestering Natasha about if she likes Blaine.

"Omigod!" She finally exclaims, earning looks from the kids around us. Migle and I glare at them and then turn back towards Tasha, "I honestly don't know."

"Ughhh." I complain, rolling my eyes. She jabs me in the ribs and Migle laughs. We're finally back to Bonanza and we have just enough time to change before the showdown starts.

The showdown goes by pretty quickly. We won the reward, which was a pair of clean clothes and tooth brushes and tooth paste for everyone. Also, the Blue District came in as Upperclass! And Green came as Laborers. Again.

After the showdown Laurel pulls my arm and asks if we can talk, "What?" I ask, hoping that maybe she's going to ask me if we can put everything behind us and we can become friends.

"Don't forget the Council Acceptance."

Guess I set my hopes too high. Eh?

"No, Laurel. I'm not doing it."

"Well then be prepared to be in trouble." She says, walking away angrily. I roll my eyes at her, even though she can't see it.

Be in trouble? Yeah right.


	18. Chapter 18

**whidhwiqehwq. **

**I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. **

**I'm late. I know it. But it's summer...ARGGGG. I know that's been my excuse for a long time but...**

**Oh well. I hope to have these next few chapters poppin' out. **

**Maybe. **

**As always, _my sneakers have sway x _story I Was Smart to Fall For Him is amazingggg. GO CHECK IT OUT!**

**Ok. Please review. Thanksss! :DDD**

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><p><strong>Day Eighteen (Afternoon until Dinner)—Upperclass<strong>

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><p>"Just freaking tell the truth, Laurel!" Natasha screams towards the red-head who is staring back at her with a cool expression on her face, her arms crossed and her posse of Green District girls, and all the Red District except D.K.<p>

Alex, Nathan, Anjay, Mallory, Olivia, Brett, Campbell, Hunter, Eric, and Michael are standing near the middle of us because they don't want to choose sides and everyone else is standing behind Natasha, Migle, Tosca, and I.

A bunch of people are yelling and no one is listening to Guylan and Zach telling them to calm down. All I'm doing is trying not to let myself cry infront of the thirty-eight kids here in Bonanza City.

"I didn't do it!" She exclaims with a bunch of 'Yeahs!' and 'She didn'ts!' coming from the group of kids behind her. I exchange a look with Hunter and he shrugs his shoulders and then comes over to stand next to me. He puts a comforting arm around my shoulder and I can see Natasha and Migle exchanging smiles next to me.

Wow. Even though we're in a huge fight right now, Meg and Tasha still find the need to smile about the simplest things between Hunter and I.

"It doesn't look that bad." Greg says, coming up to me and tugging at one of my short blonde waves.

Yah. You heard me right. SHORT. Blonde. Waves.

Laurel freaking cut my hair to my shoulders last night.

And now she's denying it.

When I woke up, I look in the mirror and see my hair chopped in a crude cut to a little below my shoulders. I started to cry as soon as I saw it and Natasha and I quickly decided that it was Laurel who did it. Natasha cut my hair so it comes to a little below my shoulders in a even cut and ever since ten o'clock this morning, the town has been fighting over it.

I fight back my urge to cry and grimly look up at Greg. He gives me a big hug and I bury my head into his shoulder as he rubs my back. I finally release him and turn back to Hunter, leaning my head on his shoulder.

"Get back here, Hunter." Laurel snaps, pointing to her side. I roll my eyes but take my head off of his shoulder.

"I'm staying." He says loudly. Laurel's mouth drops open and I smile at Hunter, who smiles back at me. Michael also comes over to us, ignoring Sophia's and Laurel's protests.

"Are you sure it was Laurel, Macy?" Guylan asks, stepping closer to Laurel's side of things. My mouth drops open. I'm about to start swearing at him, but I rethink that and simply nod my head.

"I'm positive. No one else in this town would do it."

And that's true. It's all because I don't believe that stupid "Council Acceptance" shit she's making Zach and Guylan do by having them take over Green's responsibilities.

"Laurel's not the only one in this town who has an issue with you…" Zach says softly. I gasp, and turn towards the thirteen year old boy.

"Shut up, Zach!" I exclaim, feeling tears well up in my eyes.

I don't get it. No one seems to listen to me and I hate it! I don't lie about things that are important. This is important. I turn my head away before anyone can see me cry and Hunter gives my shoulders a reassuring squeeze.

"Anjay should've stayed leader!" A voice calls out followed by a couple laughs. Greg puts his hand on my back and I look down at the ground, my face turning pink with embarrassment and anger.

I break away from him and storm away. I don't know where I'm going, but I can't be around these people anymore. Tears start to run down my face and I hear footsteps behind me. I instantly know that Meg, Tasha, and Tosca are following me, and I'm glad for that. I need them now more than anything.

I finally decide I'm going to go to the platform behind one of the buildings in town. It's secluded and has a couple benches to sit on, along with some laundry lines.

"Macy!" Tasha yells, running to catch up to me as I sit down on the bench. She sits on one side of me and Tosca takes the other, Meg sits next to her, "You're okay, Macy. I promise." She gives me a hug and I cry into her shoulder.

"Maybe I should just resign." I say through my tears. Natasha frantically shakes her head.

"No. That means that Laurel would win this little battle. Laurel is not winning. You are." She says. Migle and Tosca nod their heads in agreement and I let myself smile a bit through my tears.

"But why would Laurel cut my hair?!" I exclaim, holding a piece of my short hair in my fingers and trying to not let myself cry, "What did I ever do to her besides ignore her?!"

"Nothing." Tosca says, also giving me a comforting hug, "She's just jealous of you."

"And she hates me." I mumble, "For no good reason."

"Girls will be girls." Migle says with a sigh, "We're all catty. It's in our blood or something." Natasha and Tosca laugh at her comment and I smile again. These girls _do _know how to make me feel better.

"We still need to figure out how to get back at Laurel." Natasha says with a devious smirk. We sit in silence for a bit, thinking about ways we can make her miserable, and finally Tosca jumps out of her seat.

"I got it!" She exclaims, jumping up and down with a huge smile on her face. We all lean forward and she announces her plan, "Tell Michael she likes him!"

"He probably already knows…" Migle says, trailing off, "But it's worth a shot. Let's go find that boy."

Tosca, Natasha, and Migle drag me all over down until we finally find Michael sitting by himself with a book in the Saloon. Oh Michael…

"Hey guys." He says with a smile, looking up at the four of us and marking a place in his book, "I'm really sorry about your hair, Macy. Laurel's usually a really nice person…I don't get what came over her." He says with a sympathetic smile.

I shrug my shoulders in return and give him a sad smile back.

"Speaking of Laurel…" Migle says, turning to the three of us, "We have something to tell you."

"What?" He asks, a curious expression on his face.

"Laurel likes you." Tosca blurts out.

Michael's face blushes red and it's just then that I notice there is another bottle of soda sitting at the table and it belongs to Sophia, who came over just as Tosca said that.

"Shouldn't that be between Laurel and me?" Michael asks with an angry tone. Tosca shrugs her shoulders and backs away.

This is _so _backfiring on us.

"Are you really trying to fight fire with fire, Macy?" Sophia adds in, glaring at me. This time I shrug my shoulders and my face goes red.

"That was really immature, guys." Michael continues, "So just stop. Okay?"

"Yeah," Sophia adds in, "Why do you blame Laurel for everything?"

Migle, Natasha, Tosca, and I all look at each other. I can again feel tears forming in my eyes and I shake my head angrily before walking out of the Saloon, "Bye!" Sophia calls out cheerfully.

"I hate this." I say, walking angrily back to the bunkhouse and ignoring the looks most of the kids we pass by are giving me, "I hate this so much."

"Calm down, Mace." Natasha says.

I shake my head, "No. I want to go home." I say, leaning down to put my head on my pillow and closing my eyes. We sit in silence and finally Migle says.

"I think she wants some time alone."

I nod my head and the girls leave. I cry myself to sleep and really think about what I'm doing here.

Maybe it would just be better if I left.

Better for everyone.


	19. Chapter 19

***Peeps head into virtual room***

**Hello?**

**Hey? **

**What's goin' on guys?**

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**Oh God...you guys probably thought I died. **

**I'm incredibly sorry that I haven't updated in almost two months. Really. I am. It's seriously the worst feeling ever. But, I'm backkk! And this chapter is about 5,000 words, if that counts for anything. And I promise, I'm going to try to get back on schedule. Really. I really am. **

**So, how were your Summers? And how about the beginning of the school years? Both of mine were good. Really good. I'm in ninth grade, so I've just started the high school about a month ago. It's cool, it really is. I'm only having two problems: No hot guys in my classes and Geometry Honors is the hardest thing ever. :P. Other than that, life is pretty good. AND I TURN 14 IN ELEVEN DAYS!**

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><p><strong>Day 19<strong>

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><p>"C'mon, Macy. We have to wake everyone up."<p>

I can faintly hear the whisper, but I want to ignore it. I want to go home and not have to think about waking up early again. I want to be able to sleep in whenever I want. I want—

"Macy!"

The voice screams again. This time I reluctantly open my blue eyes and look to see Zach standing above me. His voice wakes up Tosca, because I catch her eye as she looks at the back of Zach and we exchange smirks.

She _so _likes him.

"Are you coming?" Zach asks with irritation in his voice. I nod my head and run my fingers through my hair, forgetting how short it is until this minute, "You look fine, Mace. Really." Zach says. And for some reason, I actually think I'm going to trust the kid. He pauses again and then look towards me, "And I'm sorry about what I said yesterday…about Laurel not being the only one in town having issues with you. That's not true."

I give him a small smile. The simplest words that come from this kid's mouth are sometimes the most comforting words ever.

"Let's go." I say, crawling out of my sleeping bag and pulling on my sneakers and a sweatshirt. It may be the middle of April but it's still pretty cold in the morning. I wave to Tosca once before she closes her eyes again to get another five minutes of sleep in and then I follow Zach to the church where we're meeting Guylan and _Laurel. _

"Hey _Zach_." Laurel says loudly, making it clear that she is choosing to ignore me. I roll my eyes as Zach says a polite 'Hello' back and then Guylan greets the both of us.

"I'll ring the bell." Zach announces, walking to the side of the chapel where the bell is. We all follow slowly behind him. I'm at the back of the pack and Laurel and Guylan are talking in front of me, behind Zach. Zach begins to ring the bell, first at a slow pace and then he begins to ring it faster when we start to see kids walk out of their bunks and towards the Chapel.

Soon enough, most of the town has gathered in front of the Chapel awaiting to hear what we have to say. We do this every morning, give a little speech and then go to breakfast (The District that gets Cooks in the showdown has to wake up half-an-hour before the rest of us.)

"Okay, guys." Laurel begins, looking out into the sea of thirty-five or so kids. I look towards Natasha and Migle in the back and they both have annoyed looks on their faces. Greg and Blaine, who are standing with them, do too and I see Tosca standing with Randi and Taylor. They're talking quietly together and looking up at Zach every few seconds.

I roll my eyes. _Way to make it obvious, Tosc. _I think to myself. _Way to make it obvious. _

"Today's a town meeting…so try your best to get that Gold Star! And also, we're going to try to forget the…argument…yesterday." She says, her eyes drifting over to me. I look out into the crowd with a blank expression on my face, but I subconsciously pull on one of my short blonde waves.

"Head over to breakfast, guys!" Zach calls out with a cheery voice, breaking the soon-to-be awkward silence. The town kids all walk off in groups towards the Dining Hall, talking in cheery voices. I begin to follow them, but Zach pulls my arm back.

"Yes?" I question, looking at him with an arched eyebrow.

"We all need to talk about two things." He says. I sigh. _Oh Zach, always being the logical kid, _I think to myself, "We need to talk about the star at some point today, and we also need to talk about what happened yesterday."

Guylan nods his head in agreement, following Zach's lead, and then takes a seat on the chapel steps. Zach sits down too and pulls me down with him and then Laurel sits down last.

"We can talk about the star right before the meeting, at about 2:30." Laurel says, "That's when the old council and I talked about it."

"Okay, cool." Zach says with a thumbs-up sign, "Now what happened yesterday?" He looks between me and Laurel and I look up at him.

"Ask her." I say, jabbing my thumb in her direction, "I didn't have anything to do with it."

"Stop acting like such a child, Macy." Laurel says in a cool tone. I can't help it, I let out a frustrated sigh.

"I'm _older _than you, Laurel!" I exclaim, glaring at her, "You _can't _call _me _a child!"

"Macy, calm down." Zach orders and I do it instantly. Even though Zach just turned thirteen about three months ago and I turn fourteen in a month, he has such an authority figure over me. I feel like I have to listen to him or something bad will happen, "You too, Laurel." He adds, looking over to her.

"Don't tell me what to do." She scoffs. Guylan shoots her a look and she shuts-up and then we both look up at Zach.

"Laurel, did you cut Macy's hair?"

"_I _didn't." She says, emphasizing the 'I'.

"So you got someone to do it for you?" I ask, looking over to her. She smirks slightly, nodding her head.

I am about to explode. I don't get it. How could anyone be such a mean person? How could someone do that to a person they've only known for twenty days and then after another twenty days they'll never see them again?! I don't get it!

I can tell Zach feels that I'm super mad because he places two hands on my shoulders, forcing me to sit down so I can't stand up and storm away.

"Who did it?" He asks in a calm voice.

"Colton." She says, looking me straight in the eye, "I gave Colton all my money and he did it."

_Colton?  
><em>

I thought Colton liked me.

I thought we were friends.

"Why?" I choke out. If I say anything else, I think I might cry. Tears begin to well up in my eyes and all I really want to do at this moment is go home.

"Isn't it obvious?" Laurel questions, "I don't like you. You don't like me. _And _you didn't do the Council Acceptance."

"That is a _terrible _reason, Laurel." I say, glaring at the twelve year old girl.

She shrugs her shoulders and stands up, "Whatever." She says, "I'm going to breakfast. You coming, guys?" She asks, looking towards Guylan and Zach who are sitting above me.

"I'm coming." Guylan says, standing up to follow her. They both look expectantly at Zach.

"I'm going to stay here and talk with Macy." He says, giving me shoulders a gentle squeeze, "See you guys here for the gold star deliberation."

They both shrug their shoulders and walk off. Zach takes his hands off of my shoulders and pats the spot next to him so I can sit there.

We sit in a comfortable silence for a while, just thinking, and then he looks over to me, "How are you feeling?" He asks.

"Isn't that self-explanatory?" I questions, burying my hand into my hands, "I feel crappy. All I wanna do is go home."

"You can't do that, Macy. I'm not going to let you."

"You won't be able to stop me." I say, my voice raising just a hair. He looks at me and I look at him and we sit there in silence again.

"I'll try as hard as I can." He says quietly. I sigh, and stand up. He does too and he reaches out to give me a hug, which I gratefully accept. He's only about three inches taller than me so I can rest my head on his shoulder and we stay there for a minute, not talking. Finally, I pull myself out of his arms.

"Thanks, Zach." I say, giving him a sincere smile.

"No problem, Mace. Really." He replies back, "Ready for breakfast?"

"I'm doubting there'll be any left." I say, a small grin playing on my face.

We race to the Dining Hall and by the time we get there, I was right. There is barely any food left and the only people left there are Migle, Natasha, Greg, Blaine, Hunter, D.K., Tosca, Taylor and some other Yellow District kids. Colton isn't there, thank God. Otherwise, I would've smashed him into the ground.

Zach gives my hand one last squeeze as we grab our food and walk separate ways to our different tables, "Hey guys." I say quietly, taking a seat in the middle of Meg and Tasha, seeing as they broke apart so I could sit in-between them. Everyone says 'hi' to me and Hunter gives me a smile from across the table. Something (I'm assuming it involves Greg or Blaine kicking him) happens and then he also says, "Hey Macy" really quickly.

He and Greg try to exchange looks without me noticing, but I do and I let out a small giggle which attracts the attention of everyone at the table.

"There's the Mace we know and love." Natasha says, giving my arm a squeeze. I give her a smile and then we all begin to talk quietly, Natasha and Migle talking to me and then the boys talking to each other.

"So what did you stay behind for?" Natasha asks with a curious look on her face.

"Oh…" I begin, looking towards Zach. I catch his eyes and he smiles at me. I then look back towards my girls, "Well Zach just wanted to talk about yesterday…and we found out that Laurel paid Colton to cut my hair."

"_What?!" _Natasha shrieks, "That little rascal!"

"Right?" I reply glumly, "I really liked that kid, too."

"That really sucks." Migle adds in, "Colton and Zach and Randi are like the only normal people on my team…and now that Colton did this…"

Natasha and I nod our heads to show that we know what Migle is saying. It just sucks when people who you like and who you are friends with totally stab you in the back.

"So Colt did it?" Blaine asks, leaning over the table and reaching to grab a piece of my hair. Natasha slaps his hand and he gives her a goofy smile, which she rolls her eyes at in return.

"Yup." I reply, frowning.

"That sucks." Greg says, looking around the room, "Is he in here? Because next time I see him, I'm going to pound him."

"Greg. Don't." I say, glaring at him.

"Yeah, really." D.K. echoes, "That's not cool. He's just a young kid who does stupid things. He's a lot like you, Greg, except he's like twelve and you're fifteen." He finishes with a smirk.

"Shut it, D.K." Greg grumbles, rolling his eyes. The rest of us are laughing, though. D.K. really is hilarious, and he's one of the nicest guys ever.

"I hate to be the bad-guy here," I begin, looking around my table, "But we should probably start to work. I mean, everyone else is the town is." I say, gesturing around the empty room.

My suggestion is met with a bunch of grunts and moans and grumbles, but we all soon enough agree that we should go to work. Migle left for the kitchen (She's on dish duty), Hunter was off to work in the Saloon, and D.K. decided to come help my district because Red won Upperclass and Blue won laborers.

"C'mon Tash," I say, pulling her hand towards the laundry hut. Me, her, and Tosca are on laundry. Olivia, Mallory, Nathan, Alex and Anjay _volunteered _to be on toilets, and Greg and Blaine are on garbage duty…with D.K.'s help.

When we get to the laundry hut, Tosca is already there and sifting through the first pile of laundry. I can tell this is going to be a long couple of hours.

"Macy Stevens I need to talk to you!" Tosca exclaims, jumping up from her seat and basically running into Natasha and I.

"Yes?" I questions, laughing a little from the idiotic-ness of Tosca. Don't get me wrong—I love the girl to death and beyond…she just acts a little _immature _at times.

…most of the time.

"So rumor is Colton cut your hair because Laurel paid him. Is it true?"

I roll my eyes. Things get out so fast in Bonanza. It's terrible. When I came here, I thought it would be an escape from everything ninth grade is—hard classes, mean girls, gossip, backstabbing, and boys. To my surprise it's the same thing.

"Yup. It's true." I say, and for some reason I feel tears welling up in my eyes. I'm such an emotional person…it isn't even close to my, well, time-of-the-month-if-you-get-what-I'm-saying.

"Aw, Mace." Tosca says, giving me a hug.

"Thanks Tosc." I reply. I then pull on Natasha, "Get in here, Tasha. You're part of this family, too."

"Now we just need Meg." Natasha says as we pull out of the hug, "And then we have our real and complete family."

"Yes ma'am." I reply.

We sit in silence as we begin to do the laundry, and it's a really good time for thinking. All I can think about is if I want to go home or not. If I want to leave this amazing place, or if I can grin and bear it for another twenty days. I think I can. I hope I can. I can't let the little things push me over the edge, I just have to deal with them.

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><p>"Welcome to your first gold star deliberation meeting." Laurel says as I walk into the Chapel. I'm the last one there out of the three council members and I take the only open spot, the one next to Zach. Zach whistles and Guylan claps his hands. I sit there with my arms crossed and I lean back into my chair.<p>

Screw what I said earlier about staying strong. I can_not _deal with Laurel for another twenty days of my life.

"So, who are the candidates this week?"

We sit in silence for a moment and I finally blurt out a name I've been thinking for a very long time, "D.K." I say.

I'm expecting everyone to shoot down the idea the second after I say it because, well, it came from me but to my surprise, everyone considers it.

"He _is _a really hard worker." Laurel begins, nodding her head.

"And he has a great personality." Guylan adds in.

"And everyone loves him. I don't know one kid here who doesn't like D.K." Zach finishes, nodding his head in approval, "I say we give the gold star to D.K."

"Sounds like a plan." I say, and then I hear the chime of John ringing his bell, signaling the start of the sixth town meeting, "And just in time." I add in as the four of us begin to walk towards the Town Hall (AKA the Dining Hall).

It's my first meeting where I'll actually participate in, and I'm kind of excited. I have a very loud personality (as most of the town knows) so I'm looking forward to sharing my opinion on a lot of things and just overall holding power.

"Hey Macy." Jonathan says with a smile as I walk through the door in the building. I smile back up at him and then proceed to walk down the center aisle to my chair in the front of the building. I sit farthest on the right, Zach sits next to me, Guylan sits next to him, and Laurel sits farthest on the left.

It takes about five minutes, but soon enough everyone is sitting down and looking towards the front expectantly, waiting for what will entertain them for the next three or so hours of their lives.

"Welcome to your first town meeting with a new council!" Jonathan greets enthusiastically, his voice booming around the Town Hall as most of the kids begin to clap and cheer. I smile towards my district and Zach nudges his elbow with mine, as if to be saying "Oh yah. We rock."

"So, how's the new council doing?" He asks with a curious tone in his voice. I try to refrain from laughing—he obviously knows, he's basically watching us 24/7!

Sophia raises her hand, Michael does too. Someone from the Red District blurts out, "I like 'em, so far!" and I hear Greg yell, "Macy's doing a great job! So is Zach!" I smile at him and he gives me a goofy grin back, and then I see him get elbowed by Natasha who is sitting in the middle of him and Blaine.

"Sophia?" Laurel asks, calling on the girl who raised her hand.

"Frankly, I liked the old council better. You guys started off your second morning of council with a _huge _fight. That's not a good thing."

Wow. That was nice.

"I agree." Michael adds in. After he does that, a couple kids from the Green District cheer but everyone else sits there.

"Why are you so mean, Sophia?"

"Why to be negative, Sophia."

"They're human, too, Sophia."

Are all said at the same time in the same angry tone towards the fourteen year old girl. She shrugs her shoulders and crosses her legs, looking ahead towards the front wall.

After we get off of the topic of the new council, we move onto the topic of jobs. Taylor and Zach begin to argue a lot back and forth at this part of the meeting, and pretty soon everyone else in the town is getting involved.

"I feel bad," Zach whispers to me while D.K. is saying some motivational speech about Taylor, "We have to remember that she's only ten—but look at Mallory. She's _nine _and she's doing everything and anything she can to help out this town."

"Yah, that's really true." I say, agreeing with Zach.

"I'll try!" Taylor yells out, after D.K. is done talking.

I roll my eyes…and then I pray that the cameras didn't catch that. I won't get too many props from rolling my eyes at a ten year old.

As we move onto the next topic (More problems about the jobs) I let my eyes drift over the town below me.

Natasha is having a quiet conversation with Blaine and Greg and they're both laughing at her. It's completely obvious how much they both like her, and she knows it. I also know that she doesn't know which one she likes, or if she likes either at all. But she said she likes to hang out with them, so as long as it doesn't get weird, she's fine. But we all know pretty well that it's going to get weird soon.

I see Tosca in front of them sitting with Anjay and Nathan. Apparently, Anjay and Olivia never really did have a 'thing' but Tosca lost interest in the boy and has moved onto Zach. At least, I _think _she did. Who knows…maybe she secretly still does have a thing for Anjay.

In front of them are Mallory, Olivia, and Alex who are all paying attention to the conversation going on. They're all good kids, they really are.

Pharaoh, Brett, and Colton are sitting infront of them. I don't know Pharaoh or Brett that well, but when I look at Colton I begin to twirl my hair. I'm honestly never going to be able to look at that kid the same way ever again.

In front of them are Meg and Randi who are having a conversation. They aren't paying attention _at all _and they keep looking towards D.K. every couple seconds.

Taylor, Leila, and Sophie are sitting in front of them and they are paying attention to the town conversation, looking for a chance to stir in some drama every chance they can get.

My eyes then drift over to the back of the barn where the Red District is sitting. The last row is taken by Mike, Jared, and Markelle and the row in front of them is D.K., Jasmine, and Madison. All of them are listening and paying attention to everything that's going on.

Emilie, Kelsey, and Divad are sitting in front of them and they seem to be having a very tense conversation…or maybe an argument. I'm not really sure.

For the last row of the Green District, Campbell and Hunter are sitting together. They're both listening, but Hunter catches my eye and smiles at me. I smile back at him and he mouths 'You're doing great.' 'Thanks' I mouth back.

Michael, Eric, and Sophia are sitting in front of them and acting like complete know-it-alls, and then infront of them are Kennedy, Savannah, and Morgan who are _politely _listening.

All of a sudden, I hear everyone gasp and flip their heads towards the Red Districts section.

"What just happened?" I ask Zach. He looks at me, his mouth open.

"D.K. wants to go home." He replies, and then I see tears well up in his eyes.

What?

_What?_

"What!" I exclaim loudly, jumping up from my chair so quickly that it topples over. Zach picks up my chair and pulls me into it before I can do anything else.

"Can I talk to you, D.K.?" Guylan asks, motioning outside. D.K. quickly nods his head and they leave.

"Make him stay." I whisper to Guylan, tugging on his sleeve as he walks by me. Guylan nods his head and then I look out towards the kids in front of me. All of them are visibly upset, some of them are crying. Natasha is resting her head on Greg's shoulder and they are talking quietly, he is trying to console her.

"He can't leave." I say to Zach, "He can't."

"I know." Zach replies, nodding his head.

Guylan and D.K. come back after about five minutes. We all stare at them in silence as they take their seats again, and Jonathan asks for the final decision.

"I'm staying."

And with those two words, the whole town erupts in applause, "Yah D.K.!" I cheer from my seat. I exchange bright smiles with Natasha and then Jonathan asks us the question, who's getting the gold star.

Zach stands up without us even having to talk about it. This gold star has D.K.'s name on it; it's a fact.

"This person is amazing. This person is smart, kind, respectful, and basically—this person keeps our town together. So come get your gold star…" He pauses, looking around the room with a smile on his face, "D.K."

The town erupts into cheers again, and everyone claps loudly after D.K. gives his speech.

"Back to your bunks!" Jonathan yells.

The meeting was actually about four hours. Right now it's about eight o'clock and it's dark. On Town Hall days, the producers order pizza for us (I know, right?!) so I catch up with Natasha to grab a slice and then we begin to walk towards the center of town where the bunks are so we can say goodnight to everyone.

"Nice job up there, Macy." Greg says, giving me a hug as I walk over to him and Blaine.

"Thanks." I reply, smiling to him as I pull myself out of his arms. I spot D.K. and quickly run over to him, "D.K!" I yell, grabbing his attention.

"Hey Mace." He replies, holding his star by his side and walking over to me, "Thanks for the star."

"No problem." I say with a smile, "Thanks for staying."

"Thanks for letting Guylan talk me out of it."

I laugh, "True. Next time anything happens, just come talk to me. We can work through it together."

This time he laughs, "Allright, Macy. Let's do that."

He then walks over to Jasmine and I walk back to Greg, Blaine, and Natasha, but I'm stopped by Hunter.

"Where ya going?" He asks, walking beside me. I point over towards my group and he nods his head, "Can I come?"

"Of course." I say, "You're always welcome."

"Hey Hunter!" Greg and Blaine cheer as we reach them. They do a fist-pound-y thing and then we talk for a while about random things.

It's almost nine o'clock and we're some of the last kids out in the streets.

"Bedtime?" I ask, looking towards Natasha and Tosca (Who joined us with Zach, D.K, and Migle)

"I think so." Natasha replies. We then begin our nighttime 'Goodnight' routine.

I start by giving Greg, D.K. and Blaine their hugs. I then give Migle a bearhug, and I give Natasha and Tosca ones too—even though we sleep in the same bunk. I give Hunter a hug and we stay that way a couple extra seconds longer than we should. Finally I give Zach his hug, "Thanks for everything today, Zach." I say.

"No problem, Mace." He replies, releasing me.

I wave to everyone one last time before walking into our bunkhouse where Olivia and Mallory are already fast asleep.

"I'm exhausted." I say, pulling on my pajamas and slipping into my sleeping bag, "Night."


	20. Chapter 20

**Hey guys! **

**Gosh, Sorry I took so long between updates. School's just been really hard and busy...freshman probs. Haha. But this chapter *Like the last!* is almost 4,500 words. So I hope you guys are happy about that. :D**

**I have another couple hectic weeks...so expect at least about two-three weeks until another update. I have a lot of 'helping out work' this weekend, next weekend I have Area All-State, and then I _think _I'm finally going to have a break the weekend after that. **

**Anyways! I'm halfway done! I'm not sure if that's good or bad...but I'm halfway there! Hahaha. **

**Obviously Entei: Thanks for the review! Your story sounds sooo cool! I can't wait until I get to read it! :DDD **

**Please review guys, thanks! :D**

* * *

><p><strong>Day Twenty<strong>

* * *

><p>"C'mon guys, wake up!" Laurel yells, ringing the bell and calling out to the town as kids begin to walk out of their bunks. Within the next five minutes we get everyone in town down at the chapel. Most of them are still in their pajamas and are rubbing their eyes, still obviously tired, except for most of the Yellow District kids because they had to cook breakfast.<p>

"Morning, guys." Zach greets everyone with a smile. I wave to everyone, Guylan cheers a "Good morning" and Laurel flashes everyone a smile, "We have a showdown today…so get pumped for that. And please, do your jobs. Thanks guys!"

Greg claps his hands and whistles from the back of the crowd, "Whoohoo! Nice speech!" He yells out. I roll my eyes as they all begin to walk to breakfast and the four of us council members walk into the chapel to read the journal.

"Who wants to read?" Laurel asks as we take our seats. No one volunteers, so she begins to read.

Basically, the journal talks about money. There is also a map that says we should follow the trail to go to some secret place.

"Sounds sketchy." I say as Laurel finishes reading. Zach and Guylan laugh and Laurel shoots me a look.

"We're on a television show being watched by adults 24/7. It isn't _sketchy_." She says, looking at me with a 'Duh' look on her face. I hold back from rolling my eyes and then I slouch back into my chair.

"Let's go." Guylan says, shrugging his shoulders, "If we leave now we'll be back in time for the showdown."

"You think?" Laurel asks, looking over to him, "It looks like a long walk…and the showdown is only in about six or so hours."

"Let's go." Zach says, agreeing with Guylan, "You'll never know until you try."

"Believe it or not…I'm agreeing with Laurel on this one." I say, looking over to the red-head, "I don't think we're going to have enough time."

Zach and Guylan exchange looks, "C'mon!" they exclaim. Laurel finally caves in after a few seconds but I still shake my head. Then, before I can even process it, Zach grabs one of my hands and Guylan grabs the other. They basically drag me out of the church and before I know it we're beginning our walk out to the wherever-the-heck-we're going.

"Where are we going?" I ask, looking over to Zach who still hasn't let go of my hand. He realizes it and quickly let's go of it, and then both of our faces turn pink.

"We're going to a mine, Macy, didn't you listen?" Laurel asks, looking over to me. I shrug my shoulders, "It looks like we're going to be walking for a little while…" Laurel says, looking down at the map.

"Greattt." I mumble under my breath so that only Zach can hear. He laughs and we exchange looks.

After a couple of minutes Guylan and Laurel have gotten ahead with the map and Zach and I are trailing behind them by about ten feet.

"So…" Zach says.

"So…" I mimic, smirking at him. He rolls his eyes at me and I laugh, "Do you still like Tosca?" I ask, looking at him with a curious look.

He looks down and his face turns a lighter pink color, which you can clearly pick out against his tanned skin, "I never liked her, Macy." He replies, kicking at a rock on the ground.

I roll my eyes, "Oh yah. I _totally _believe you." I say with a huge amount of sarcasm. He gives me a light shove and I lightly shove him back.

"I like her a little, I guess." He says, shoving his hands into his pockets. I can't help it; I let out a small squeal. He gives me a look and I give him a goofy smile, "But I also like this other girl…" He says in a quieter voice and then finally trailing off completely.

"Who?" I ask, adding a bounce into my step, "We're BCMF's. We tell each other _everything._" I exclaim, nudging him with my elbow.

"We're what?" He asks, giving me a confused look.

I roll my eyes, "BCMF's…Best…Council…Members…Foreves."

"Oh. Ohhhh. Yah, true that." He says, nodding his head and shoving his hands further into his pockets, "But I'm still not going to tell you."

"You suck, Zachary." I say, sticking out my tongue at him.

"Very mature, Mace." He replies with a smirk. He kicks a piece of dust on the ground, "Who do you like?"

Psh. If he doesn't tell me, I'm not going to tell him. Duhhh.

"No one." I say, shrugging my shoulders.

"Really?" He asks, looking at me with a curious look, "You don't like Greg or Blaine and Michael or D.K.?"

I stick out my tongue and make a disgusted face, "No. Greg is a jerk, Blaine is too obsessed with Natasha, Michael's annoying, and D.K. is just too much of a friend for me to like him." I say, "And I think he might have a girlfriend back home."

"Oh." Zach replies, "Well would you ever actually wanna date someone here?"

I shrug my shoulders, "I don't know. Maybe if they live close to me or something…but we only have twenty days left. That's not really a lot of time."

He nods his head, "True…true."

"Guys! The mine!" Guylan shouts. Both Zach and I snap our heads forward to see an entrance to a mine about ten feet away with two lanterns hanging in front of it.

"Are we actually going to go in there?" I ask, peering into the entrance, "Because it looks really scary."

"Oh, stop being such a baby." Laurel says. She then grabs a lantern and walks into the mine. She walks in about a foot, and then grabs Guylan and pushes him in front of her. She follows him and then Zach goes.

"I'm not going last!" I exclaim, pushing myself in front of Zach.

"Chicken." He whispers, clucking into my ear. I elbow him in the stomach and he laughs, "Scared Macy-Wacy?" He teases.

"Omigod you guys are annoying!" Laurel exclaims, turning around to glare at Zach and I.

"What did I do?" I ask with an exasperated look on my face, "I haven't even been talking to you!"

"Well you are Zach are constantly flirting!" She exclaims. My face grows red and I look down, Zach does the same and she smirks at us.

"We're not flirting." I say, spitting out each word.

"Whatever." She replies. She then looks in the direction of Guylan's lantern, "What is that?!" She asks. I look up and see a huge herd of bats.

"Omigod!" Laurel and I both scream at the top of our lungs, "Put the lantern down!" Laurel adds, snatching away Guylan's lantern.

"I'm leaving. This is scaring the crap out of me." I say, turning around. When I turn around all Zach does is shake his head and put a hand on my shoulder to turn me back around.

"You're fine." He whispers into my ear.

"Look!" Guylan exclaims, pointing to the ground, "It's a treasure chest!" I look down to the ground and I see a small box sticking out of the ground.

"Well open it!" I exclaim, giving Guylan a soft kick in the shin. He reaches down to grab it and we all sit down on the ground.

"Ready?" He asks, finally about to undo the lock.

"Go!" Laurel exclaims impatiently. I laugh and then Guylan opens the box where a _tonnn_ of buffalo nickels are.

"Omigod!"

"Wow!"

"I'm rich!"

"This is cool. This is very cool."

We all stare at the box and then Laurel finally begins to count them. We finally are able to figure out that there are 375 buffalo nickels in the chest, which is $18.50.

"What are we going to do with it?" I ask, looking around at my fellow council members.

"We could double everyone's paychecks." Guylan says, "Or we could just split the money evenly among the thirty-eight kids."

"I don't know…" Laurel says, "Everyone will spend it in a snap. It won't have a purpose."

"Yeah," Zach says, nodding his head, "Do we even have to tell everyone about it?"

"Technically, no." I say, "We don't."

"But we _should._" Laurel says.

"Or we could just buy a bunch of toys and instruments and things to do at the Dry Goods store…" Zach says.

We all think it over and then nod our heads in agreement.

"That's actually a really smart idea, Zach." Laurel says.

"Yah." Guylan and I say in agreement.

"Cool." Zach says, "Let's go."

The producers are nice enough to give us a ride back in a golfcart, so it's only about five minutes until we're back at the town. Everyone else is eating an early lunch so the four of us go to the Dry Goods store and buy a bunch of stuff for the town.

We put most of the objects in one of the empty town buildings and label it "The Playhouse" and then each carry a handful of objects into the Dining Hall.

We get a lot of curious looks as we walk into the Dining Hall with everything in our arms but we don't really care, because we won't be getting them for long.

"What are you guys doing?" Taylor asks, her accent ringing out across the room.

"You'll find out soon." Laurel replies, flashing her a smile. She shakes her head and turns back to her table to pick at her food.

Zach and Laurel describe basically our whole adventure to them and then finally we announce about all the stuff we bought. At first everyone is silent, but then the whole town erupts into applause.

"Aw yeah." I say, smiling and giving high-fives to all of my fellow council members.

"So finish eating and then we can play and stuff until the showdown!" Guylan announces as the four of us walk off of the stage.

I grab a plate of the pasta and walk to my normal table in the back corner where Greg, Blaine, Natasha, Migle, D.K., and Hunter are sitting.

"Hey." They all say with smiles. I wave to everyone and take the only open seat left, which, is coincidentally next to Hunter.

I have a feeling everyone planned it, though.

It's really kind of stupid. I haven't told _anyone _my feelings about Hunter yet everyone knows that I at least have a small thing for him. Am I really _that _obvious?

God…I hope not.

"Nice idea, Macy." Hunter says, smiling at me. I thank him and then turn to my food so he can't see the small pink blush rising to my cheeks.

"That was actually a really smart idea." Natasha says, nodding her head, "So now we won't be bored all the time!"

"We should play football." Migle says, smirking at Natasha and I.

"Or baseball." I add in, giving them both a playful wink. The three of us then burst into laughter and all the boys stare at us like we're idiots.

"Girls are _weird._" Greg says under his breath. Blaine laughs and Hunter lets out a chuckle. I elbow him in the side and he just laughs down to me.

"You're cool." I mutter, rolling my eyes and finishing my food, "Wanna go find something to do?" I ask, looking towards Natasha and Migle. They both nod their heads, but Greg cuts them off.

"Yah, totally!" He yells out in a girly voice.

I roll my eyes, "You're a freak, Gregory." I say.

"Let's go." Natasha mouths to me as her, Migle, and I stand up at the same time, dump our dishes into the bin that goes to the kitchen, and then bolt outside.

"It's so awkward being around Greg and Blaine." Natasha says, "I mean, they both like…fight…over me and I hate it." She says, ending in a whisper.

"Awwww." Migle and I say both of us leaning in to give her a hug. She crosses her arms over her chest and pulls her hoodie closer around her.

"I don't want to do a showdown today." I say, looking towards the sky, "It's cold and annoying and those things are stupid."

"True Dat."

* * *

><p>"Ok. It's the washing machines and dryers or it's the outfits and the handcrank washers. What are we gonna do?" Guylan asks, looking around at the three of us.<p>

"Handcrank washers." I say, "It's easier and we get new clothes."

"I agree with Macy." Guylan says, "I'm the laborers. Getting the laudrymat would be using all my money."

"Yah, it would be 90% of the merchant's money." Zach says.

"Same with us as the cooks." Laurel says.

"So the handcrank washers?" Guylan asking, looking around at us as we nod our heads. We head back to the group and Lauren announces that we picked the new laundry.

We all run to get our new clothes (Organized by District Color) and then we run back into town. Well, the younger kids run. Natasha, Migle, and I walk back into town. We are given slices of pizza on our way back (We get dinner made for us on Showdown Days) and then we stop in the Blue Girl's bunk to change.

We decide to save our new clothes for tomorrow, so I just put on the pair of jeans I've been wearing for the past week and my Pink! sweatshirt.

"Is anything going on tonight?" Migle asks as we walk back out to town. Usually after the showdowns a lot of the kids hang out in town center, and usually the older kids do things at night.

"I'm not sure." Natasha says, shrugging her shoulders. We spot Greg and Blaine and they run over to us, "Is anything going on tonight?" Natasha asks them.

"I think we're having a fire…like we did about two weeks ago. Only kids older than the age of thirteen are invited."

"Tosca can come though, right?" I ask, looking at the two boys.

"Yeah, of course." Greg says, "So are you guys coming?"

I look over at Migle and Natasha and the three of us all shrug our shoulders, "Why not?" Migle answers for all of us.

"Cool. We'll meet up here in about an hour and a half. It'll be dark by then."

"So like 8:30?" I clarify. Blaine nods his head and then they walk away, "Where do you guys wanna go?" I ask as Natasha, Migle, and I begin to walk in random directions.

"Wanna just go hang out on a hammock? It's not too cold outside." Natasha says, pointing to a hammock about thirty feet away. None of the other kids are nearby, so it's a good place to talk and just hang out.

"Okay." Migle says to me as soon as we get to the hammocks, "What's going on between you and Hunter? Hmm?" She questions, raising her eyebrows.

I feel my face grow red and I shrug my shoulder, "What?" I ask, trying to pretend I don't know what she's talking about.

"Oh shut it, Mace. We're your two best friends here, c'mon." Natasha says, elbowing me in the side and smirking at me.

"I don't knowww." I say, leaning back into the hammock.

"Do you like him?" Migle asks, pulling me back up, "And don't lie." She adds in, looking me in the eye.

"Yah…" I mumble, looking down.

"AWWWW!" Natasha squeals, jumping out of the hammock. She attracts the attention of Greg, Blaine, and D.K. who are walking by and they all give us confused looks.

"What?" Greg asks, walking over to us.

"NOTHING!" I yell out loudly, giving Natasha a look.

She completely ignores, "MACY LIKES HUNTER!" She squeals out.

"Natasha!" I scream, glaring at her, "They're gonna tell him!" I add in, ignoring the shocked looks they're all giving me.

"No they're not. We've all basically thought this since last week." Natasha says, "Promise you won't tell anyone?" She asks, sticking out her pinkie.

Greg, Blaine, and D.K. all pinkie-promise with her and then turn to me, "He _so _likes you, Macy." Greg says, squeezing inbetween Natasha and I.

"How do you know?" I ask, trying to get away from him.

"Men's intuition." He says, tapping his head. I roll my eyes and Natasha, Blaine, and D.K. all laugh. Migle lets out a giggle and I shake my head.

"Can we set you guys up?" Blaine asks, elbowing me in the side.

"No!" I exclaim, jumping up from the hammock. I shake my head, "No, no, no."

"Why not?" Greg asks, "Then everyone would be happy."

"It'd be _so _awkward." Natasha says, "You can't set people up."

"Yah, I agree with Natasha." Migle says.

"Well you guys are annoying. Let's go, guys." Blaine says, standing up from the hammock. I roll my eyes, laughing.

"See ya tonight!" Natasha yells as they walk away.

"Don't tell anyone!" I add in, "Natasha!" I exclaim as they are far enough away.

"What?" She asks innocently, batting her eyes.

"How could you tell them?"

"They're our friends, they won't tell him." Natasha says, placing a hand on my shoulder, "I'm really sorry, though, Mace."

I take a deep breath and then shrug my shoulders, "It's ok. I guess."

"I knew it would be."

* * *

><p>"Hey guys!" Greg shouts out as Natasha, Migle, and I walk up to the bonfire on the edge of town. There is only about ten kids here; Greg, Blaine, me, Natasha, Tosca, Randi, Migle, Zach, Colton, D.K., Michael, Eric, and Hunter. I'm assuming a lot of the other older kids weren't invited, and then obviously no one invited Laurel and her posse.<p>

"Hey." Natasha, Meg, and I say back, waving to the group.

The older kids are actually pretty tight here in Bonanza, at least the kids who came to the fire tonight are.

Tosca and Randi are talking with Zach and Colton and then all the other boys are in a group. I wave to Tosca, Randi, and Zach and I avoid Colton's gaze…I still haven't talked to him and I don't plan on it, either.

Natasha and Meg have gone into the group of guys so I quickly follow behind them, "Macy!" Greg shouts. I look over to him and he gestures for me to go over to him…he also is standing next to Hunter.

Greattt.

"Hey." I say, smiling at both of them.

"Hey." They both say back, each giving me a smile.

We stand there awkwardly for a moment and I look over to Greg, "Why'd you call me over her?" I ask.

He eyes shift to Hunter and then shift back to me and I roll my eyes, "Oh…um, I needed to talk to you…?"

"You're cool, Greg. You're a cool kid." I say, sarcasm dripping from my words. Hunter laughs and Greg rolls his eyes at me.

"Whatever. I'm going to go talk to Natasha." He says, walking away. As he does so I see him nudge Hunter a little and Hunter shoves him back.

"Greg's an idiot." Hunter says once Greg is out of earshot.

I nod my head, laughing, "Agreed." I say.

"So have you talked to Colton yet?" He asks, looking in the direction of the Yellow-District kid.

I shake my head, "Hell no. If I talked to him, I think I'd strangle him." I say, tugging on my short blonde hair.

He shrugs his shoulders and tugs lightly on one of my locks, "It doesn't look _that _bad." He says, smiling at me a little.

"Aw thanks." I reply, feeling a small blush coming to my face.

He's about to say something but someone grabs me from behind and spins me around and then another couple kids begin to scream in my face.

"Blaine!" I scream, hitting his hands which are wrapped around my waist, "Greg! Natasha! Migle!" I add in, glaring at them as Blaine drops me back onto the ground.

They're all in hysterics, and Hunter and D.K. are laughing with them and I'm just standing there with a confused look on my face.

"What was that for?!" I ask, looking around at the group of kids.

"No flirting in Bonanza City." Greg says, a smirk coming on his face.

I roll my eyes and my face begins to get really hot. I don't look over at Hunter and I shove myself into Greg.

"Says the guy who flirts with every girl older than the age of thirteen." I say, rolling my eyes at him.

Hunter laughs and shoves himself into Blaine and D.K, "You guys are _so _cool." He says with loads of sarcasm.

"I know I am." Natasha says, wrapping an arm over one of my shoulders and one over Hunter's shoulders.

"Hardy har har har." I say, poking her in the side. She immediately drops her arm and bursts into a fit of laughter. She's extremely ticklish.

The rest of our group bursts into laughter because that's all we really can do.

"Our campfires are _so_ boring." I exclaim, loud enough so that everyone can hear me. A lot of people nod their heads to agree with me.

"What should we do?" Zach says, walking over to our big group. Colton, Tosca, and Randi follow behind him and soon we're in a big group.

"I have no idea…" I say, shrugging my shoulders.

"Well…it's getting kinda late…" Zach says, shuffling his feet and looking down at the ground.

"Yah, I'm tired." Colton adds in. Randi nods her head and so does Tosca.

"Should we head back?" Randi asks, looking towards Tosca who nods her head.

"Night!" Tosca shouts out as we give the four of them hugs. Well, three of them for me.

Eric and D.K. leave shortly after and then it's just Hunter, Greg, Michael, Blaine, Natasha, Migle, and I. We all gather up in chairs around the fire and Greg throws in another log.

"What do you guys wanna talk about?" Greg asks, looking around at the group of us.

"I don't even know." I say, shrugging my shoulders, "All I know is that I'm extremely bored."

"What's going on between you and Sophia, Michael?" Natasha asks, looking in his direction. His face turns red and he looks down, shrugging his shoulders.

"Nothing." He mumbles, shuffling his feet against the ground.

"Liar." Hunter coughs out, smirking in Michael's direction. The rest of us all laugh and look towards Michael, intrigued to find out the answer.

"Well…?" I push.

"I like her and she likes me." He spits out quickly. His face turns bright red again and he looks back down towards the ground.

"Awww!" Natasha, Migle, and I all exclaim. Sophia and Michael are really cute together. They're both smart and wise and stuff. Except, Sophia never really got me as a dating type. Or the liking type. Oh well. It's still cute.

"Oh shut up." He mumbles.

"Why didn't she come tonight?" I ask, looking towards him.

"Why do you think?" Greg says, answering for him.

"Me?" I ask, smiling cheekily. I can't help it; I begin to laugh now when people here say they have issues with me.

"Bingo."

"Feelin' the love." I say, smirking a little.

"You should." Blaine says as we all burst into laughter.

"Who do you like Tash?" Michael asks, looking towards Natasha who whips her head in his direction.

"Um, why would I announce that here?" She asks, her face turning a little pinker than usual. I cover my mouth and laugh into my hand. God, I love Natasha. She's seriously one of the most readable people I know, and everyone's basically reading into the face that she likes one of the guys here.

"Aw, C'mon Natasha." Hunter says, laughing.

"Yeah, tell us Tashy." I say, smirking at her. She sticks out her tongue at me, "Love ya, girlie." I add in between bursts of giggles.

"Why don't you tell us who you like, Mace." She says, smirking at me.

When she says that, everyone there turns to me. Michael and Hunter have curious looks on their faces and Migle, Greg, and Blaine contain their laughing. Natasha continues to sit there with a smirk and a twinkle in her eyes, I know she isn't doing this to hurt me, though. We just have a really, really good relationship where we can do this to each other and be totally fine.

I shrink back into my seat, "Yah, no thanks. I don't like anyone."

"I don't believe you." Greg sing-songs.

"Why don't you tell everyone who you like, Greg?" I ask, steering the question in his direction.

"Hahahaha. No." He says, going from a happy expression to a dead serious one in two seconds flat, "I think Blaine should."

"Nope!" Blaine calls out as soon as the words leave Greg's mouth, "Megs?"

"Pshhh. I don't like anyone." She says with a wave of her hand, "Who do _you _like Hunter?" She asks, nudging him with her foot because she's sitting next to him.

"I'm not telling." He says, looking down at the ground.

"C'mon guys. I told everyone; someone else has to tell, at the least." Michael says, looking around the group.

"Well I'm getting tired. Night guys!" I say, standing up from my chair. I laugh as I walk out behind my chair.

"Me too." Natasha and Migle say at the exact same time, also standing up from their chairs.

"Do we get hugs?" Greg asks, looking towards all of us.

We all hug tonight. I give Greg, Blaine, and Michael quick hugs and then I hug Hunter a second longer than I should.

"Night Mace." He whispers into my ear.

"Night Hunter." I whisper back, releasing myself from his arms.

The boys decide to hang out for a little while longer so Natasha, Migle, and I walk back by ourselves.

"You should've told everyone who you likeee." Natasha says, nudging me with her elbow.

"Yah, no. Nope." I respond back.

"Chicken." Migle says, clucking a little.

"Oh shut up." I say as we enter the town.

"You know you love me." Migle says, "You both do." She adds in as we go in for a group hug.

"Night Meg." Natasha and I say, "Loveee youuu!"


	21. Chapter 21

**Hey guys! **

**I'm so sorry for the long wait, I really am. I was doing Nanowrimo (I finished it, by the way) but it took a lot of my time...so I'm sorry about that. **

**Bella (My Sneakers Have Swaggg): Oooo yay! New chapters! I'm getting excited for your story!  
>Obviously Entei: All-State is this singing thing with the best singers in my area of the state. And for a name? I don't know...I'm thinking something Italian. Because Tosca is Italian...Maybe Isabella? I'm probably wayyy off. Hahaha.<strong>

So...please review! Thanks! XOXOX

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><p><strong>Day Twenty One<strong>

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><p>"C'mon, Mace. Wake up." I hear a voice whisper into my ear. I turn the other way and cover my face with my pillow. It's too early to wake up—I'm way too tired.<p>

"Macyyy." Another voice says, this one coming from my other side. I turn the other way and then somebody starts hitting a pillow against my body.

"Wake uppp!" The first voice screams, hitting me with the pillow even more.

"Ohmygod I'm up!" I exclaim, sitting up and glaring at the two people—Migle and Natasha. They exchange smiles and then turn back to me.

"It's almost 9:00." Natasha says, "Everyone else is at breakfast. They're all waiting for you."

"WHAT?!" I exclaim, jumping up from my sleeping and running over to my bag. I grab the new clothes that I got yesterday (A pair of blue jeans and a blue plaid shirt). I run over to the changing area and I throw on the jeans and I put on my camisole and then tie my plaid-shirt so it's tied around my waist, "Thanks for waking me up, guys." I spit out, glaring at them as I come out of the changing area.

"We kinda…forgot." Natasha says, shrugging her shoulders, "We thought Zach or someone woke you up."

I run over to the mirrors and put on some mascara and then run my fingers through my hair and pull back some of my hair with clip, "Gee, thanks." I say sarcastically, smirking at both of them.

"Love youuu." Migle and Natasha say at the same, running over to give me a hug.

"Yah, yah, yah." I say, linking my arms with them and walking outside, "Did you guys already eat?" I ask, looking at both of them.

They shake their heads and smile and then we continue to walk to the Dining Hall, "Didn't the Council want me up?" I ask, looking at them with curious glances.

They shake their heads, "No. To be completely honest, people really only woke between 8-9. I honestly don't even think that you're the last one up." Natasha says as we walk into the Dining Hall, attracting the attention of all the other kids who turn their heads to look at us.

"Well this is kinda awkward." I say, walking fast over to the bar where we get out food. I grab a plate and then head over to the table that we usually sit at. Everyone is already there except for Natasha, Migle, and I and they all squish together to make room for us.

"Way to finally wake up, Mace." Greg teases, shoveling a spoonful of whatever we have for breakfast into his mouth, "We _all _missed you." He adds in, looking directly as Hunter with a smirk on his face. He is sitting next to me and I quickly glance over to him and I see him roll his eyes. I cover my mouth with my hand and laugh into it.

"Shhhh." Blaine says dramatically into Greg's ear, holding his finger up to his mouth. There's a smirk behind his finger, though, and he quickly begins to break into laughter.

"You guys are such idiots." I say, rolling my eyes.

It's at those types of moments where I'm especially thankful that my face doesn't turn bright red when I get embarrassed. When I was younger, my face would turn bright red whenever I got embarrassed—or even when I talked to attractive guys. It got _really _annoying and everyone picked up on it. One day, I just told myself that I couldn't get embarrassed anymore, and after about a year I didn't. And that's how I become so outgoing, because I know that I won't get all bright red anymore.

"You know that you love us." Greg says, smirking at me. I roll my eyes again and he begins to laugh some more.

"And Hunter." Blaine coughs into his arm. I whip my head in Blaine's direction and glare at him.

"_What." _I say, buy more as a statement than as a question. Greg hits Blaine on the shoulder and Blaine shrugs his shoulders in response as if to say 'It just kinda slipped out.'

"Hahaha. What?" Blaine asks, trying to laugh it off. I roll my eyes sneak a glance in Hunter's direction. His face is a pinkish color and he's laughing, but his eyes are glazed over.

_Crappp, _I think, _He probably thinks I'm a freak now._

As the boys are laughing Natasha looks over to me and we make contact, "Are you okay?" She mouths with concern in her eyes.

I shrug my shoulders, "I'm ok." I mouth back. I mean, I not in any traumatic pain or anything…but I'm just a little bit embarrassed.

"Wanna go?" She mouths back, pointing her hand towards the door. She nudges Migle and whispers something into her ear and Migle nods her head, "Let's go." Natasha mouths. She stands up and so does Migle and then I finally do, too.

"Wait…where are you guys going?" Greg asks, looking at us with a curious look on his face. That expression then turns into one of guilt and he jumps up from his seat and follows us as we walk out of the Dining Hall.

"Wait…Macy!" Greg yells out, running to catch up to us as we walk out of the building. I pause and wait for him to catch up to us.

"Yes?" I ask, crossing my arms and glaring at him.

"I didn't mean to embarrass you or anything. Blaine didn't either. Really. And I'm really sorry if we did." Greg says, with a genuine look of concern on his face. It's also completely out of character. Greg _never _apologizes. To anyone. At least, he hasn't as long as we've been here in Bonanza.

"It's okay. I mean, I'm a little embarrassed. But it's okay." I say, shrugging my shoulders. Natasha and Migle are standing on either side of me and Natasha gives my shoulders a squeeze.

"So hug and make up?" Natasha asks, looking towards Greg and I. He extends out his arms and I wrap mine around his neck.

"Allright. So we're cool, Mace?" He asks.

I nod my head, "We're cool."

"Cool. See ya later." He replies, running back to the Dining Hall. That's where most of the boys hang out until like 10 or 10:30 anyways. The girls on the other hand want to get out of there as fast as we can.

Three meals everyday and a three-five hour town meeting every three days is more than enough time spend in that room for me.

Natasha, Migle, and I begin to make our way back towards the center of town where all the action happens but we get stopped by Tosca and Randi on the way.

"Macy! Macy! Macy!" Tosca yells out, running to me and basically throwing herself into my arms, "Coltonwastalkingaboutyouandh esayshefeelsreallyguilty!" She says out, jumbling each word into the other.

"Whoaaa. What?" Natasha asks, placing her hands on Tosca's shoulders as if that would calm her down, "Repeat the sentence that you just said."

She takes a few deep breaths and then repeats herself, "Colton was talking about you and he says he feels really guilty." She says.

"When was he talking about me?" I ask, looking from Tosca to Randi. Thank _God _for those two, they're basically our inside to all the younger kid drama.

"Him and Zach were talking about you at breakfast today." Randi says, bouncing slightly. I'm assuming that the two girls ate a lot of sugar last night, especially because Tosca slept in the Yellow Girl's bunk so she and Randi could hang out more.

"Why were they talking about me?" I ask with a confused look on my face. I get totally paranoid when I find out that people talk about me, even if it was about good things.

"I'm not really sure why." Randi says, shrugging her shoulders, "All I know is that Zach brought you up. Probably for a council thing or something."

"Yah." I repeat, thinking about it, "Yah, that's makes sense."

"Well are you going to talk to Colton?" Tosca asks, giving me a look. I shrug my shoulders. I really don't know how much I want to talk to him…I still think that if I try I'll want to rip his head off, "Well you should at least talk to him before tomorrow. I heard him say that he feels so guilty that he wants to go home."

"_What!" _I exclaim, stopping abruptly so Natasha runs into my back, "Are you serious?"

"She's being dead serious." Randi says, nodding her head extremely fast.

"I'll talk to him. I promise. It'll probably be tomorrow, but I'll talk to him." I say. Randi and Tosca both exchange smiles and then give me a hug.

"Thanks Macy!" They both exclaim, running in the opposite direction of where Natasha, Migle, and I were going.

"Where _are _we going?" I ask, looking towards Natasha and Migle. They both shrug their shoulders and I roll my eyes.

"Macy! Natasha! Migle!" We hear a voice shout. The three of us turn our heads in the direction of the stores and on one of the platforms Jared is there with a table, "Come here!" He exclaims, gesturing for us to go to him.

The three of us exchange looks and then head towards Jared, "What's up, bud?" I ask, giving him a side hug, "I haven't really talked to you since the bus ride on day one." I add in as he pulls away.

"Yah, yah, yah. Anyways, do you guys want to buy my new creation?" He asks, pointing at some pieces of wood attached to string on the table.

I pick on up and toss it around in my hand, "What is it?" I ask, looking down at Jared.

"It's a necklace." He says, "It says _**Bonanza City 2007." **_

I look more closely at the necklace and I do see it, "How much?" I ask, pulling some coins out from my pocket. I haven't really bought much here except for some candy and soda, so I have a lot of money left.

"They are one buffalo nickel." He says, holding out his hand to collect the money from the three of us. We each place a nickel in his palm and then take our necklaces.

"Thanks Jared!" We say in unison, walking away and putting on our necklaces.

"Guys, I'm going to miss this place so much." I say, looking around the town, "And I'm going to miss you guys like crazy. It's going to be terrible."

"Don't even think about that yet, Mace." Natasha says, giving my arm a squeeze, "We still have nineteen more days to make the most of."

"I say we end our Bonanza City experience with a bang." Migle says with a look of determination on her face, "We need too." She adds in.

"Agreed." Natasha and I say, nodding our heads.

"So what are we going to do today?" I ask, looking towards the two of them, "Because I'm bored _and _I don't see anyone around town. Which is really strange."

"Yah, that is really strange."

We continue walking and as we walk by the Saloon we hear a bunch of laughter coming from it, "Should we go snoop?" Migle whispers.

Natasha and I nod our heads and we run up to the doors of the saloon and peek our heads in. Inside we see almost every single girl in Bonanza City.

"I'm totes feeling the love right now." I say sarcastically to Natasha and Migle who nod their heads in agreement.

"Should we just barge in?" Natasha asks, looking at Migle and I, "Because I really want to."

"I do too…" I say, smirking a little, "But I feel like they would all get really pissed off at us."

"They probably would. But it's their fault for not inviting us in the first place." Migle says, shrugging her shoulders, "So I say we go on the count of three."

"One…"

"Two…"

"Three!"

"Hey Guys!" I exclaim as we jump into the Saloon. I swear to God, everyone in that place jumps about a foot into the air and I try to contain my laughter.

"Thanks for the invite!" Natasha adds in, leaning against one of the tables, "We're really feeling the love right now."

"Didn't Randi and Tosca invite you?" Sophia asks from her spot at a table with Laurel, Morgan, Savannah, and Kennedy. I look over towards Randi and Tosca who are sitting at a table with three open spots. I raise my eyebrows in towards them and they look at each other with confused looks.

"I was told that you were going to invite them." Tosca says, looking towards Laurel. Laurel shrugs her shoulders in response.

"I guess I forgot. But who cares, you're here now. Take a seat." Laurel says, gesturing towards the tables. Natasha, Migle, and I sit down with Randi and Tosca and Tosca looks at me with a concerned look on her face.

"I swear to God that Laurel told me she was going to invite you." Tosca says as soon as we sit down.

"I believe you." I say, giving her a sincere look, "So what were you guys doing in here?"

"We were all just hanging out. Laurel just suggested truth or dare…I think that we were going to start playing that." Randi says, "The younger girls are leaving, too." She adds in. And just on cue Taylor, Leila, Sophie, Kelsey, Divad, Mallory, Jasmine, Madison, and Emilie leave. Kennedy, Savannah, and Olivia decide to leave, too. They say that they just don't want to play.

"Come over here guys." Sophia says, gesturing for us to drag our chairs over to her table. Soon enough Morgan, Sophia, Laurel, Migle, Natasha, Randi, and I are all sitting around one table, "So who wants to go first?" She asks, looking around at all of us.

"I will." Morgan says, raising her hand. She looks around the room and then her gaze rests on Randi, "Truth or dare?" She asks, looking eyes with the blonde haired girl.

"Um…dare." Randi says, playing with the end of her braids. Morgan cracks a smile and then begins to think for a minute.

"Ok. I dare you to go to the chicken coop and kiss a chicken right on the lips." Morgan says as we all begin to laugh. Randi scrunches up her face in disgust but stands up along with the rest of us.

"Field trippp." I say as we all walk out of the saloon and towards the edge of town.

The dare gets done rather quickly. Randi kisses a chicken without making a fuss, we all laugh our heads off, and then we head back to the saloon for the next person to go.

"Ok." Randi says as we all take our spots in the saloon. She looks around the room and then juts her head towards Sophia, "Truth or dare?"

"Truth." Sophia responds immediately, knowing that she wouldn't want to take a dare from Randi. She might be twelve, but she has an incredibly devious mind.

"What is the deal with you and Michael?!" She exclaims, jumping up from her seat.

"Even the younger kids notice it?" Sophia exclaims, resting her head in her palm.

"Everyone notices it, Sophia." Morgan says, elbowing Sophia in the side, "No offense or anything."

"Fineee. I like him and he likes me. We just don't really want to date because of the whole long distance thing." She says and her face turns red.

"Have you kissed yet?" Randi asks, bouncing up and down in her seat. Tosca slaps her arm to make her stop bouncing and Randi slaps her back.

"One question per turn." Sophia says, rolling her eyes. Her face turns red again, though, and Natasha and I look at each other with smirks.

They've so kissed before.

"Truth or dare Natasha?" Sophia asks, looking towards Natasha.

"Dare." She says loudly. She then leans over to whisper into me ear, "How bad could a dare given by Sophia be?" I stifle a laugh and Sophia shoots us a look.

"Greg or Blaine?"

"That is _not _a dare." Natasha says (Quite loudly, might I add).

"It so is, though." Sophia says, "So who do you pick?"

"Greg." Natasha says in a whisper. Sophia puts her hand up to her ear as if to say 'Speak louder' and Natasha spits out the word, "Greg." In a louder voice.

"I figured." Sophia says, shrugging her shoulders and smiling towards Natasha, "I can't really see you with Blaine."

"Whatever." Natasha says, rolling her eyes. Her face is still a little bit red as she calls on Morgan to pick truth or dare.

"Truth." Morgan says, "I don't trust you with a dare."

"Ok…" Natasha says with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes, "Out of all the boys in this town, who would you want to kiss?"

"Uh…Hunter."

My head whips in her direction and Natasha and Migle look at me with panicked looks. _She _likes _Hunter?! _

"Ok…uh, Migle. Truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"I dare you to stand up and start singing the song Call Me Maybe at dinner." Morgan says with a smirk on her face. Migle looks at her with her jaw dropped.

"You're kidding."

"I'm not."

"That has to be illegal or something." Migle says, standing up from her chair and looking back towards Natasha and I for backup.

"Ehhh, I think that it's pretty funny." I say, smiling at her.

"I hate you all." She says with a glare. Her gaze then drops onto me and she gives me a devious smile, "Truth or dare, Macy?"

"Truth. I'm scared of you." I say with a shudder.

She thinks for a minutes and then finally replies to me, "So are you gonna kiss Hunter before this thing is over?"

My face turns bright red and Laurel, Sophia, and Morgan all turn to glare at me, "You like Hunter?" Morgan asks with disbelief on her face.

Migle shoots me an 'I love you look' and then turns her face into a serious look, "Well answer the question." She says.

"I don't know. Maybe." I say. I then turn to Laurel because it's her turn but the bell for dinner rings, "Are you kidding me?" I exclaim.

"Oh well." Laurel says with a smirk on her face, "Next time. I can't wait for the dare, Migle."

"Totally…" Migle says, rolling her eyes.

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><p>"And this is crazy, but here's my number. So call me maybe!" Migle belts out at the top of her lungs, standing on one of the picnic tables as the rest of the town sings along with her. She bows before jumping off of the table and then walks over to us.<p>

"Amazing Meg, absolutely amazing."

"Aw gee, thanks." Migle says rolling her eyes. Even though she was extremely embarrassed to do that she took it like a sport and did it well.

"What were all you girls doing in the Saloon today?" Greg asks as we all takes our seats back at our table. Migle, Natasha, and I look at each other, wondering if we should tell.

"Just hanging out." I respond, "Why?"

"You guys were in there for a pretty long time." Blaine says, raising his eyebrows, "The rest of the town was getting pretty curious."

"Well then why didn't you come in?" Migle asks, "Wouldn't that have been easier?"

All the boys shrug their shoulders and all three of us girls roll our eyes, "Macyayyyy." Tosca exclaims running over and jumping onto the table.

"Yes?" I ask, looking at the twelve year old. She motions for me to lean into her so she can tell me something and I lean in, "Laurel's telling everyone that you like…" She trails off, looking in the direction of Hunter.

"Are you serious?!" I exclaim, standing up from the table and then punching my fist into the table, "I am going to murder her."

"Laurel?" Greg asks, looking in the direction of the red head.

"How'd you guess?" I ask, sarcasm dripping off of my tongue.

He laughs, "What did she do?"

"Yah, what did she do?" Natasha asks, shoving her head towards Tosca, "Tell me Tosc." Tosca leans down to whisper into her ear and I look towards Greg.

"I'll tell you later." I say, looking over to Greg. I then turn back to Tosca and Natasha, who is telling Migle.

"What are you gonna do?" Natasha asks, glaring at Laurel, "Punch her in the face?"

"I'm gonna wait it out. He kinda already knows..."

"Good idea." Tosca says smiling.

We continue to joke around for a little while longer and then it gets to be about 9:00.

"Wanna head back?" I ask, looking to Natasha and Tosca. Natasha nods her head but Tosca gets a nervous look on her face.

"I'm kinda gonna sleep in the yellow bunk again tonight…" She says, trailing off.

I smile, "It's fine, Tosc. Don't worry." I then turn to Migle, "Sleepover in the blue bunk?" She nods her head enthusiastically and then we all stand up. We say goodnight to the guys and after exchanging hugs Natasha, Migle, and I begin the walk back.

Within minutes we're all laying on our sleeping bags in a circle, "So what are you gonna do if it gets out?" Natasha asks.

"It's kinda already out...I don't really know." I say, shrugging my shoulders.

"Well I have faith in you." Migle says, laughing.

The three of us talk a little more and then we all drift off into sleep, being exhausted from the past twenty days.


	22. Chapter 22

**Hey Guys!**

**Sorry that I'm having so much time between updates. It's just that's school is getting harder and my laptop is extremely stupid. I'm also going to be a co-writer on a Kid Nation Submit-Your-Own-Character story! Check out **_Kid Nation: Cardin City_ **and submit a character!**

**So, I hope that you had a wonderful Holiday Season, whatever holiday you celebrate! And have an amazing New Years! I'm going to try and update once more before then, but I'm not really sure if that will happen. **

**Read **_my sneakers have sway_ x**'s Kid Nation story and respond to her poll! It's amazinggggg!**

**Alrighty, please review. Thanks! :DDD**

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><p>Day Twenty Two<p>

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><p>"So who's going to get the gold star?" I question, looking at Laurel, Zach, and Guylan. All three of them have puzzled looks on their faces that match mine. All of us have no idea about who we should give it to, "Well I don't think that Divad should get it." I say.<p>

"I agree with that." Guylan says, nodding his head, "Nathan was working really hard last night. Maybe we should give it to him."

"Pharaoh's been working really hard, too." Zach says.

"Maybe we should just hold another one of those things where the town votes for who they want." I suggest, "It'd at least give us a general idea."

"Yah, let's do that." Zach says, nodding his head.

"Well why would we do that if we have it between Pharaoh and Nathan?" Laurel asks, looking at me with an eyebrow raised, "All we need to do is debate is among ourselves."

"Well it's nice to get the town's opinion." Zach says, defending me. I nod my head in agreement and Laurel just rolls her eyes.

"Fine, whatever. We can do it later today." She then looks over to me with a sneaky look on her face, "I'm surprised you didn't nominate Hunter, Macy."

Ohmygod I want to punch her so badly right now.

I control myself, though, and through gritted teeth I ask, "Why would I nominate Hunter?"

"Well it's pretty obvious that you have a crush on him." She says with a smirk on her face. She then leans over to Guylan and whispers into his ear, "She's obviously not good enough for him, though." She said it loud enough for both Zach and I too hear it.

Zach looks over to me with one of his eyebrows raised and I just shrug my shoulders, "Whatever. I'll leaving, Laurel, I really don't feel like dealing with you much longer." I say, standing up from my chair. Zach follows my lead and we're both about to walk out of the chapel when Laurel calls my name.

"You'll never guess what Morgan and Hunter did last night, Macy." Laurel says. I turn around to raise my eyebrows at her and then I shake my head.

"I don't care, Laurel." I respond, storming out of the chapel. Zach is right behind me and everyone else is at breakfast.

_Did Morgan and Hunter actually do something last night? Like did they kiss? Oh God, I hope not…that would make me kinda mad. Now I need to talk to Hunter but I really don't want to, what am I going to do?_

"Macy!" Zach yells, knocking me from my thoughts.

I turn to look at him and I see that if he hadn't yelled my name much sooner I would've walked through a huge puddle in the middle of the road, "Oh…thanks Zach." I say, giving him a distracted smile. We continue to walk towards the dining hall but Zach grabs my arm when we're a couple feel away.

"You seem really distracted, Mace. Do you wanna talk about it?" He asks with a genuinely concerned look on his face. I'm about to shake my head but then I think about how much I like talking to Zach and I shrug my shoulders.

"That'd probably be a good idea." I say as we walk away from the dining hall and towards the outskirts of town.

"So do you actually like Hunter?" He asks, looking over to me. I shrug my shoulders but I can feel a small blush coming to my cheeks, so I duck my face and Zach sighs, "I'm pretty sure that means you like him." He says.

"I don't know." I say, shrugging my shoulders. Which is kinda a lie…because I do like Hunter, I just don't want Zach to know.

"Well if it makes you feel any better, it's pretty obvious that he likes you." Zach says. I try to catch his eye, but he keeps looking away from me. I finally give up and start staring ahead.

"No it isn't."

"It's just because you don't wanna believe it. To everyone else, it's pretty obvious."

"You're a really smart kid, Zach." I say, bumping into him with my shoulder. He smiles in my direction and bumps me back, "A really good friend, too." I add in.

He smile then turns into a neutral expression and he keeps avoiding my eye contact again, "Ok Zach. Something's wrong. Are you going to tell me what it is?" I ask, looking at him with a skeptical look.

"Nothing is wrong." He says with a forced smile. I roll my eyes.

"That smile looks pretty fake to me, bud." I say, I then bump into him once more, "You can talk to me Zach. What's going on?"

He pauses and then finally responds to me, "I like this girl. But she doesn't like me back."

"Really? That's strange. Any girl I know here would be lucky to have a guy like you like her."

"Really?" He questions, shock in his voice.

I nod my head, "So who is it? Tosca? Randi?" I ask, bumping into him some more with a smirk on my face.

"It's—It's—never mind. It's no one." He says, shaking his head with a blush in his face, "It's stupid."

"Tell me!" I beg.

"_No _Macy!"He basically screams. I take a step back and he instantly looks at me with regret in his eyes, "I'm so sorry Mace, I didn't mean to yell at you."

"It's fine." I say, shrugging my shoulders, "I shouldn't have been pushing so hard for you to tell me. Wanna head back?"

He nods his head and we walk back towards town in silence. We're nearing the dining hall and we get caught up in a crowd of people heading out, "Guess we missed breakfast." I say, gesturing towards everyone.

He laughs and nods his head, agreeing. He opens his mouth to say something but I get whisked away by Natasha and Migle, "C'mon Mace!" Migle screams. I roll my eyes but wave to Zach as I get dragged away by the two girls. He waves back and then Migle, Natasha, and I run up the steps to the Blue Girl's bunk and plop down on our sleeping bags.

"Hunter's a really smart kid." Natasha says, lying down on her stomach as she begins to braid a section of her hair. Migle nods her head, agreeing with Natasha.

"What are you talking about?" I ask, a worried look growing on my face as my stomach starts to twist itself into knots.

"Well today at breakfast he asked us if you liked him." Migle says, playing with her hair and avoiding making eye contact at me. I grit my teeth and let out an angry breath, "We didn't tell him anything, though." She adds in.

"So I'm just going to avoid him for the rest of, ya know, ever." I say, nodding my head, "Good plan, good plan." I mutter to myself.

"You can't avoid him forever!" Migle exclaims, throwing her arms into the ear. She then looks at my dramatically, "You like him and he likes you. You've got nothing to lose!"

"Stop being such a drama queen, Meg." I say, rolling my eyes. Natasha chuckles and Migle turns to glare at her which makes her laugh even harder. The three of us have such a dysfunctional relationship.

"Wait…I'm going to have to talk to him today. We're doing that thing where everyone gives their opinion of who should get the gold star…and _shit, _Laurel and I got into another fight." I say, my words stringing together more and more and coming out of my mouth faster and faster as the sentence carries on.

"Calm. Down." Natasha says, placing her hands on my shoulders, "Just be yourself and don't let Laurel get to you. You'll be fine."

"I hope so." I mutter, falling back into my sleeping bag and staring at the ceiling above me, "Gah, I'm a bigger drama queen that you, Megs."

* * *

><p>"Who do you want the gold star to go to, Gregory?" I question from my position at the table in the chapel. Greg is standing in front of us and he marks one of the last kids who is left to go. The only other ones are Blaine, Michael, and Hunter.<p>

"I think that you should give it to Nathan, he's a really nice guy and a really, really hard worker."

We all write what he says down and then dismiss him. The same thing comes out of the mouths of Blaine and Michael and then Hunter finally comes in.

"Hey guys." He says, smiling at all of us.

"Hi."

"Sup."

"What's going on?"

"Hey."

Laurel, Guylan, Zach, and I respond at the same time. Laurel looks at me obnoxiously from across the table and I roll my eyes at her.

"Who do you want the gold star to go to, Hunter?" Laurel coos out, batting her eyelashes. I resist from gagging and start to color on my paper.

"I'm gonna have to go with Nathan." He says. I look up at him and we make eye contact. He smiles at me and I smile back, and then write what he said on my paper.

"Cool, thanks Hunter." Zach says, dismissing him.

"Bye." I add him, smiling as he smiles back at us from over his shoulder.

"_Bye_._" _Laurel mocks in an extremely high and girly voice. I roll my eyes and look down at my sheet, ignoring her.

"Well, the majority of the town voted for Nathan…so it that who we're giving the start to?" I ask, looking more towards Guylan and Zach than Laurel.

"I guess so." Guylan says as Zach and Laurel nod their heads, agreeing with us.

"Well that's good. See y'all at the meeting." I say, standing up and exiting the chapel. I'm about to go and find Migle and Natasha, but instead I almost run into Colton who is sitting by the chapel door.

"Hey Macy." He says shyly, giving me a small smile. I run my fingers through my hair, because that's all I can think about when I see the kid.

"Hey." I respond, walking past him to go into town.

"Wait! Can we talk?" He asks, running to catch up at me. I glare down at him and he looks back up at me, "Please?" He adds in.

"You have five minutes." I say as we begin to walk away from the town and towards some rocks that we can sit on.

"I feel really, really bad about cutting your hair. It was really stupid for me to do and I feel really guilty and I'm really sorry."

"Well I don't want to sound like a bitch, but you kinda should be." I say, crossing my arms and looking towards him.

He nods his head, "You have every right to be."

"But I do accept your apology. You're a really cool kid, and I hope that we can be friends again." I say, putting my arm around his shoulder and giving it a squeeze.

"Yah." He says with a bit of emptiness to his voice. I'm about to question it, but Zach calls his name from the chapel. He stands up and I give him a smile, "See ya around, Macy." He says.

"See ya Colt."

* * *

><p>"Welcome to another Town Meeting!" The host, Jonathan, announces as everyone claps and cheers. I try to hide my yawn. I'm still not used to be upfront during the meetings and I still find it annoying. Natasha catches my eye and smirks at me and I wink back at her.<p>

Jonathan gets the ball rolling by saying a sentence about the jobs. Pretty soon everyone is yelling at Taylor and the yellow district girl soon has tears in her eyes. I want to go and give her a hug and I look over to Zach who gives me a shrug, "I'll talk to her later." He says in a whisper.

"Make sure to tell her that she can talk to me if she needs to." I whisper back, half-paying attention to the meeting.

He nods his head and then we both turn back to the town.

The rest of the meeting goes by quickly enough, I suppose. It's probably been about two hours and then Jonathan asks us the question about leaving.

At first no one raises their hand and then as we're about to all cheer about no one leaving, a hand pops up from the yellow district.

A hand belonging to the boy who cut off my hair.

Beside me I hear Zach gasp and a worried look crosses over my face. I look over at Zach and he looks just as nervous as I do.

"Colton?" Jonathan asks with question and shock in his voice, he then gestures for the boy to stand up, "Why?"

Colton stands up and I look closely at him. He is wearing his cowboy hat on his head and his eyes look red, almost like he's been crying, "I did something I shouldn't have and I feel really guilty. I can't stay here anymore and live with the guilt." His voice cracks and tears begin to well up in my eyes, "I'm really sorry." He adds in. He then looks down at the ground.

I look over to Zach and he looks extremely upset. The tears finally start falling and I stand up from my council chair and walk over to where Colton is standing with Jonathan.

"Stay Colt, you have to." I say, looking into his eyes. He shakes his head.

"I'm really sorry Mace, but I can't." I feel a hand on my shoulder and I turn around to see Zach.

"Please Colt. Please stay." Zach pleads, his grip tightening on my shoulder. Colton shakes his head once more and then I quickly dive in for a hug.

"I'm so, so sorry about everything Macy." He whispers into my ear and then lets me go. He gives Zach a handshake and then looks out towards the crowd, where almost everyone is visibly upset, "Stay in touch guys!" He yells out. Jonathan then gives him a handshake and Colton walks down the center aisle and out the doors.

Zach and I walk back up to our council seats and there's a moment of silence as everyone is taking in what just happened. I let my face fall into my hands and I begin to cry. I feel a tap on my shoulder and I look up. It's Zach.

"Stay strong, Macy. It's for the best." He says. I nod my head and wipe my eyes, sitting up straight I look towards Jonathan.

"Well, on a happier note…" He says, looking among the crowd, "We'll award another kid with a gold star today. Council? Who'll it be?"

The four of us look at each other and nod our heads, all of us still agreeing on who we had decided earlier in the day. Guylan stands up, "This person has been such a hard worker and we have to reward him or her. So," He pauses, a look of excitement in his eyes, "Nathan. Come get your gold star."

The town erupts into cheers and Greg even lets out a whistle. It's so strange how everything can go from so sad to so happy in a matter of minutes.

Nathan's face is one of surprise as he walks to retrieve his gold star. He gives a short speech and then takes the key from Jonathan, running out of the room to call his parents. Jonathan then dismisses the rest of us.

It's about 8:30 and some of the younger kids head back to their bunks. I see Zach running after Taylor and the only thing I can think about is the Yellow District only has eight people now. And they're all really young.

"You okay, Macy?" Natasha asks, walking up to me and giving me a hug. I shrug my shoulders.

"I've been better." I say, hugging her back.

"It'll get better, don't worry about it." She says with a hopeful smile. Her smile turns bigger at the sight of something behind me and I turn around to see Hunter walking in our direction, "Speaking of getting better…" She sing songs out. I roll my eyes and she laughs.

"Hey guys." Hunter says in his thick country accent.

"Hey." Natasha and I say in unison. He laughs and then clears his throat.

"Can I talk to you Macy?" He asks, looking at me. I nod my head and Natasha walks away as awkwardly as she can, "How are ya holding up?" He asks, looking at me as we begin to walk in the opposite direction of everyone. We take a seat on a hammock as I finally respond to him.

"I'm okay. I feel really bad though. How are you? He was one of your friends, wasn't he?"

Hunter shrugs his shoulders, "He was. But after he cut your hair I kind of stopped talking to him…I wish I was able to say goodbye, though. He was a good kid."

I nod my head, "He really was."

We sit in silence for a moment. Not an awkward silence, but a comfortable silence, and look out at the stars, "It's so pretty here." I finally say, looking up at the sky, "You're never able to see the stars this well in California."

"Same in Georgia." He adds in, also looking up at the sky, "I almost never wanna go home. Sure we fight a lot here, but I'm met some pretty amazing people, too."

I can't help but blush, even if he isn't talking about me, "Everyone is so unique and that's what makes it so special." I say, thinking about all the different personalities of all the kids in town.

"I feel really bad for the kids who left, ya know? They really never got to live through everything that we are."

"Me too. Jimmy, Cody, and Colton…"I say, trailing off as tears begin to well up in my eyes again as I think of Colton.

"You okay?" He asks, looking over at me. I nod my head but it must not have been convincing because he scoots closer to me and puts his arm around my shoulder. I lean my head on his shoulder and we both continue looking up at the stars.

"I really like it here." I finally say, "I like everything about it."

"Me too, Macy. Me too."


	23. Chapter 23

**Hey Guys!**

**Happy 2013! This is the last chapter of 2012...hope you guys had a great one! Have an excellent New Years!**

**Before I start: Macy is 14 and from North Carolina. Sorry for any confusion. **

**Also, check out _My Sneakers Have Sway X story I Was Smart to Fall For Him_ and the story _Kid Nation: Cardin City _where you can submit a character!**

**Happy New Year! Have a great one!**

* * *

><p><strong>Day Twenty Three<strong>

* * *

><p>"Hurry up Mace!" Tosca yells, her hands on her hips and an annoyed look on her face. I smirk to myself and walk as slow as I can out the door of my bunkhouse, "Macy!"She screams. I laugh and join the group of her, Natasha, Migle, and Randi.<p>

"Morning guys." I say with a smile as the five of us begin to walk to the dining hall for breakfast. It'll be good, too, considering it's cooked by the Green District.

"Macy!" Tosca screams as I stop walking and look down at the twelve year old on my left with an annoyed look on my face.

"What now, Tosca?" I question with annoyance in my voice.

"Look down." She says, pointing to the ground. I look down at the ground and see that I almost walked on Pharaoh, who is currently lying on the dirt road along with about half the town.

"What the heck?" Natasha mutters, looking around, "Why are you doing this?" Natasha asks Greg, kicking him in the leg.

"We're bored." He says, shrugging his shoulders.

The five of us girls exchange looks with each other and shrug our shoulders, "If you can't beat 'em…" Tosca mutters, lying down.

"Why not?" I add in, also lying down on the dirt road. The other girls join us and we lay there for about two minutes, but by then I'm even more bored, "Guys I'm hungry. I quit." I say, standing up and walking to the dining hall. Everyone soon follows and by the time I get my plate and sit down almost everyone is in the dining hall.

The five of us girls decide to sit by ourselves today so we could talk about things. I haven't talked in a big group like this in a long time and we decided that it was much needed, "So…Macy. What went on between you and Hunter last night? Hm? You didn't get back for a little while." Natasha says, raising her eyebrows at me and smirking.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I mumble, looking down at my plate and moving my food around with my fork.

"Did you kiss?!" Tosca exclaims, leaning forward across the table, "If you kissed I am so mad that I didn't know until now."

"We didn't kiss Tosca, don't worry." I say, rolling my eyes and blushing, "We just talked for a little. That's all."

"You didn't even hold hands?" Migle asks. She looks over to where Hunter is sitting, "Wimp." She coughs under her breath.

We all laugh and then I look over to Natasha, "So did you finally figure out who you like, Tasha?" I ask. She shrugs her shoulders but her face turns red so I know that she did, "Who is it?!" I exclaim, almost jumping up from my seat, "And why wasn't I told of this earlier!?"

"Well I decided on Greg." She says softly, not making eye contact with anyone. Migle and I exchange looks. We both went down _that _road. It seems like forever ago, too, but it wasn't. It was only about twenty days ago when Meg liked Greg and Greg used me to get her not to like him because he liked Natasha.

"Well he obviously likes you." Tosca says, stabbing at her breakfast with her fork. She then looks up, "What are ya gonna do about Blaine, though?"

At that point I look over to Migle, who is blushing and looking down at her food, "Have something to say Migle?" Randi questions, raising her eyebrows at her.

"Well I might like Blaine…" She mumbles. I look over to the corner of the room where we usually sit. The boys are all there, acting like complete idiots, "But he obviously doesn't like me back." She adds in, looking at Natasha who is sitting on the other side of her.

"If he knew you liked him he'd like you." Natasha says, giving her a pat on the arm and a smile, "Don't worry about it, Meg."

"Yah." I echo, looking over at her with a smile. She blushes and then looks over to Randi and Tosca who are sitting across from us.

"Well who do the two munchkins like?" She asks with a smirk.

"We are _not _munchkins!" Randi exclaims, shaking her head as her braids whip back and forth, "And I don't like anyone. No cute twelve year olds here." She says, shrugging her shoulders. The four of us then look over to Tosca, who has a dreamy look on her face.

"Oh yah. Well I kinda sorta might like Anjay again…" She says, shrugging her shoulders as we all look at her with looks of disbelief.

"Really?" I ask, looking over to where he sits with a bunch of the younger guys, "What ever happened to him and Olivia?"

"He was just comforting her. She was homesick. I asked her about it." Tosca says, "Is it bad that I like him again? You guys all look really confused."

"No, it's not bad. We just don't want you to get hurt again." Natasha says, "But it's not bad. Not bad at all."

Tosca smiles, "Ok." She says brightly. We all laugh—that's the Tosca that we know and love.

We finish our breakfast fast enough and then we all get up to dump our plates into the increasing piles in the kitchen. The Green District has done a pretty good job on dishes, but there are so many kids here which mean the dishes will always be a lot.

"Where do you guys wanna-"

_Ring Ring_

"Um, shouldn't you be there if they're ringing the bell Macy?" Natasha asks, looking at me with a curious look. I shrug my shoulders and the five of us walk to the chapel where the bell is. When we get there we see that a crowd of kids has already gathered there and that it was the Red District ringing the bell.

"What's going on?" I ask, walking over to where Zach is hanging out with Pharaoh and Brett, "I didn't miss a council thing. Did I?"

He shakes his head, "If you did then I did too."

"We're bored!" D.K. yells out, looking out among the town, "This town is boring! All we do is work. That's it!"

I look over at Natasha and we both nod our heads. He's right—this town is extremely boring. Even with the toys that we bought for everyone the town still sucks. All you can really do is work or talk.

"We'll try to come up with something, D.K." Guylan says as D.K., Jasmine, Jared, Mike, Markelle, Kelsey, and Divad all walk down from the platform.

"You guys better." He says, "No offense or anything, but it sucks here. The people are great…but all we do is work."

The rest of the town basically agrees and Zach comes up to me, "Maybe the journal will have something about it." I nod my head.

"I say we go read it right now."

We grab Laurel and Guylan and the rest of the town goes away. We walk into the chapel and the journal is on the table. We all take our seats and Laurel begins to read.

Zach was right. The journal talks about how we should hold something to entertain everybody, "What about a talent show?" I ask, looking at my fellow council members. Surprisingly enough—they all agree.

"Should we make a signup sheet?" Zach asks. We all nod our heads and he grabs a piece of paper and a crayon and begins to make a layout for the signups.

We talk for a little while longer about council stuff and Laurel looks at the clock in the room. It's almost 11, "Wanna go make the announcement?" She asks, looking at us. We all nod our heads and walk to the dining hall.

"Hey guys!" I exclaim, walking onto the platform with the signup sheet tucked underneath my arm, "We have an announcement to make!"

Everyone looks up with us with hopeful looks on their faces, hoping that it'll be some form of entertainment.

"We've decided to hold a talent show!" Zach exclaims as the room bursts into applause. I smile brightly and pull out the sheet.

"We'll hang up the list and everyone can signup. Signups close by the end of tonight, the talent show is tomorrow night after the showdown!" I then hop down from the platform and nail the sheet again a beam on the wall in the dining hall. I then head over to my normal table to eat lunch.

"Hey guys." I say with a smile, taking a seat next to Natasha. She's sitting next to Greg, who is sitting next to Blaine who is sitting next to Migle. Across the table from them are Tosca and Randi. D.K. is next to Randi, and Hunter is next to D.K. who is across from me.

"I like the idea of entertainment." D.K. says from down the table, holding up a thumbs up. I smile back down at him.

"Believe it or not it was actually all my idea." Everyone's all like "Oh good job" or "Way to be smart" or "Omg I'm really surprised" but I just laugh it off, "So is anyone gonna do anything?" I ask, looking around the table.

"Me and Randi are gonna do something. But it's a surprise." Tosca says with a smirk on her face, "See ya guys later. We gotta go plan!"

All of us laugh as they leave and then I look at everyone else, "No way. I'm not talented." D.K. says, shaking his head.

"I'm with D.K. on this one." Hunter says, pointing towards D.K., "I'm just gonna sit back and watch everyone make a fool of themselves."

"We're doing a recreation of Romeo and Juliet." Greg says, pointing at Blaine, "It's gonna be sexay."

We all burst into laughter, "I'm sure it will be." Natasha says with a smirk on her face. I nod in agreement.

"Totally." I add in sarcastically. I then look down the table at Natasha and Migle, "Are we gonna do something?"

"Yah!" Natasha exclaims, jumping up from her seat and grabbing Migle and my hands, "Let's go!"

* * *

><p>After a soda for each of us and a good thirty minutes of deliberation, Meg, Tasha, and I decided that we just aren't talented enough to participate in the talent show.<p>

"Guys this is actually really depressing." Migle says, taking a sip of her rootbeer, "Like seriously every other kid here is doing something and we're not."

"Do you actually want to do something?" Natasha asks her with a raised eyebrow. Meg thinks about it for a minute and then shakes her head.

"No. Not really."

The three of us laugh and then Natasha turns to me, "You should sing, Mace. I've heard you before and you're good."

"Thanks, but I don't do singing in front of people." I say, shaking my head, "I get all freaked out."

"C'mon Mace, at least one of us has to do something! Take it for the team!" Migle encourages, clapping her hands together, "We'll even help you pick out a song!"

"I don't know…" I say, trailing off. I actually kinda like the idea of singing but I'm just really afraid that I'm going to choke up when I'm onstage and completely mess up.

"Let's go sign you up!" Natasha says, grabbing me and pulling me out of my chair. We then walk to the dining hall and I take the crayon and sign up on the sheet.

"I can't believe I'm doing this." I mutter to myself as I sign my name on the sheet of paper, "I never sing in public."

"Now we get to choose a song!" Natasha says, clapping her hands together. The three of us take a seat at one of the tables in the dining hall and we begin to put our ideas together, "Well what artists do you like?" Natasha asks, looking to me.

"Well I know basically every Taylor Swift song." I say, shrugging my shoulders, "I guess I could do one of those."

"You should do one from her new album." Migle says, smiling at me. I nod my head and we begin to list out all the songs from the new album.

"It has to be a fast enough one that you can do without background music." Natasha says as we cross off a couple songs.

Pretty soon we have it narrowed down to _Red, 22, _and _Starlight. _I decide that I don't really want to do a song directly about love, so I pick _22. _

"Oh I love it!" Natasha exclaims, clapping her hands in excitement, "Can I pleaseee dress you for your performance?!" She questions excitedly.

"You're making _way _to big of a deal about this." I say, rolling my eyes.

"Well can we?" Migle asks, her wide smile matching Natasha's.

"Whatever." I mumble, standing up from the table with the intentions of going to my bunk to practice, "I'm going to practice. You guys coming?"

* * *

><p>"I'm starving! Who knew that three whole hours of sitting on a floor talking and listening to you sing could be such exhausting work?" Migle rambles as the three of us walk to the dining hall for dinner. I laugh to myself and exchange looks with Natasha. Sometimes it is better just to ignore whatever Migle is saying.<p>

We end up being the last ones to our table and to my surprise Zach is sitting there instead of Randi and Tosca. I look over to where Anjay usually sits and I see Tosca sitting next to him and Randi sitting next to her.

We all exchange greetings and then Natasha, Migle, and I slide into three open spots. I end up sitting next to Hunter and across from Zach and then Natasha and Migle are across from Greg and Blaine. Eric, Michael, and D.K. are sitting with us tonight too.

"Zach decided that he wanted to sit with us because he doesn't really have anyone else since Colton left besides Hunter." Greg explains, stabbing at the Kentucky-themed dinner that we're having for dinner tonight, "This is really good." He adds in, chewing with his mouth open.

"Shut your mouth Greg, it's gross." Natasha says, smirking at him as his face goes red and his jaw closes.

"Sorry." He says, swallowing his food.

"So how's the Romeo and Juliet thing going?" Migle asks, looking towards Greg and Blaine. They exchange looks and then burst into laughter, "I take that as it is going good." Migle says, chuckling a little bit herself.

Hunter looks over to me, "Are you doing anything?" He asks as our table breaks off into separate conversations.

"Yah," I say, taking a sip of water, "Tasha and Meg somehow convinced me to sing. So I'm singing." I say, finally realizing how nervous I am to do it.

"I'm sure you'll be great." Hunter says with a smile. I smile back at him and then we turn back to the group who are talking about something stupid, I'm sure of it.

We sit around for about thirty more minutes and just relax and stuff. It's a nice way to end the day, especially because we need to be well-rested for the showdown and talent show tomorrow. It's about 9:00 when everyone decides to head back to their bunks. As I'm dumping my plates in the kitchen, Zach pulls on my arm, "Can we talk Macy?" He questions. I'm confused, but I nod my head. I have nothing better to do and talking to Zach always puts me in a good mood.

"What's up?" I question as we begin to wander around the streets of Bonanza City. Most of the kids are in their bunks but a couple of the older ones are just hanging out. No one really follows the curfew anymore and it's not like Zach or I enforce it, so no one cares.

"I've just had something on my mind that I really need to get out." He says. I look over to him and he's looking down at the crowd.

"What's wrong Zach?" I ask, nervousness in my voice. If he tells me that he wants to go home I am going to kill him. He can't leave me on council by myself with Laurel and Guylan against me. He just can't even leave me here, he's one of the few people that can keep me grounded.

"It's nothing bad. It's just…" He pauses and looks ahead, "I'm probably going to sound like an idiot saying this. I don't even know how to get it out."

"You can tell me anything Zach." I say, lightly placing a reassuring hand on his arm, "You're one of my best friends here."

"That's the thing." Zach says, kicking angrily at a rock on the ground, "I don't think of you as a friend." I take a minute to register what he is saying. If he doesn't think of me as a friend then he either hates me or he—

"I kinda like you Macy." He says, looking down at me with his chocolate brown eyes. I look back up to him and I know for a fact that there is a look of confusion and surprise on my face.

"You like me?" I ask, "Are you sure?"

He nods his head, "I've liked you since I met you on day 5 or whatever. I never really liked anyone else, it was always you. I'm really sorry if this messes up everything, Macy, but it was eating at me."

I take a deep breath in, "No. I get it. I just don't know what to think. Can I talk to you tomorrow?" I ask, looking up at him. He nods his head.

"Night Macy."

"Night Zach."


	24. Chapter 24

**Hey Guys!**

**I'm so sorry that I haven't updated in a really long time. School's just caught up to me...but I hope to have some more chapters popping out soon! **

**If you get some free time check out **_My Sneakers Have Sway X's _**story **_I Was Smart to Fall for Him _**and check out the story that I am co-writing with **_dreamlover99 "Kid Nation: Cardin City" _**(We already have three chapters posted! So if you submitted a character check it out and review!)**

**Ok, that's all guys. Please review! XOXO**

* * *

><p><strong>Day 24<strong>

* * *

><p>"Guys, I'm flipping out." I say, pacing the bunkhouse back and forth as Migle and Natasha sit on the ground and stare up to me.<p>

"About which situation?" Migle asks. I stop to look down at her.

"Both!" I exclaim, throwing my hands into the ear. I then collapse onto my sleeping bag, "I can't sing tonight. And I can't talk to Zach again. Ever."

"Um, you're singing tonight. You don't have any other options." Natasha says to me with a glare, "If you back out I'm never going to talk to you again."

"Good luck with that." I mumble, rolling my eyes.

"I'm actually being one hundred percent serious right now." She says. She's trying to stay serious but I can see a twinkle in her eyes and a smile growing onto her face, "Oh screw it, no I'm not."

"Well duh." I say, rolling my eyes, "But I'm _so _nervous for tonight. And I'm freaking out about the whole Zach thing!"

"Do you like him?" Migle asks, looking up from whatever she was fiddling with.

I shrug my shoulders, "I really don't know." I pause, "Is that like a total cougar thing if I like him?"

"No, not at all. He's only like a year younger than you." Natasha says, giving me a reassuring look, "But I thought you really liked Hunter."

"I'm pretty sure that I do…" I say trailing off.

"Guys?" Migle asks, breaking into our conversation, "Are we going to Tosca and Randi? I mean…Tosca had a thing for Zach. Didn't she?"

Natasha and I exchange looks, "Well yah…" Natasha says, "But she likes Anjay now, right?"

"I think so…" I say, "Do you think Randi likes him and just didn't want to tell us?"

Migle shrugs her shoulders, "That's what I was wondering. They've talked about Zach before, the yellow district girls."

"Then should we just keep it to ourselves?" Natasha asks.

I nod my head and so does Migle, "As long as Zach didn't tell anyone…" We sit in silence for a moment and then I shake my legs, "Ohmygod guys I'm so nervous for tonight."

"You. Are. Going. To. Be. Fine." Migle says, placing her hands on my shoulders and shaking me back and forth, "Just pretend that you're singing in front of your family and friends."

We all sit in silence as we think about what Meg just said. Our family and friends…I know we all miss them a ton, "I miss my family, guys." I finally say quietly.

"Me too."

"Agreed."

"Do you guys have any siblings?" I ask, looking at the two girls. Migle shakes her head but Natasha nods hers.

"Yah, I have an older sister. Natalie." She says, looking downward, "I miss her a ton. Do you have any siblings?"

"I have an older brother, Christian. He's seventeen."

"Is he cute?" Migle asks, wiggling her eyebrows. I laugh and shrug my shoulders.

"He's my brother…I don't really want to answer that question."

The three of us burst into laughter once again and then I turn to both of them, "Tell me about your families."

Natasha gestures for Migle to go first, so both of us turn to Meg, "Well I just have my mom and my dad. We're from Lithuania originally and we moved her when I was little. I do a lot of modeling and acting in my free time. My parents are really supportive of it."

"I didn't know you were a model, Meg!" I exclaim, looking at her in shock, "I mean you're obviously pretty enough but I guess I never really put two and two together."

She laughs, "Well I am." She then turns to Natasha, "What about your family?"

"My dad and my mom are normal working parents. My older sister is a complete brat but I love her to death. We both do competitive cheerleading."

"Really?" I ask, "I do competitive dance!"

"Ok, how come we didn't know this before? I mean we've been here for 24 freakin' days!" Migle exclaimed, throwing her hands into the air which causes us all to laugh once again.

"Knock-knock we're coming in!" Greg shouts out as he barges into the bunkhouse with Blaine on his trail. It's a little awkward because we're still in our pajamas and Migle and Natasha have crushes on the boys, but I don't really think the boys care. They sit down in our circle and Greg turns to me, "So there's a rumor going around that Zachy-boy has a thing for Macy-wacy." He says, elbowing me.

I exchange panicked looks with Migle and Natasha and then turn back to the boys and begin to try and lie my way out of it, "Whattt?" I ask. Migle and Natasha begin to chuckle and I roll my eyes.

"Yah, you're not pulling anything over me Mace." Greg says, laughing, "So are you gonna give up on Hunter and move onto Zach?"

"I really don't know…" I say quietly, "I mean Zach's a really amazing guy…but I don't think I like him like that." I pause, "Why am I even telling you guys this?"

"Because you love us—duhhh." Blaine says, smirking at me.

"Totally." I say, laughing at him.

* * *

><p>"I cannot believe we got the reward <em>and <em>got merchants!" I exclaim to Natasha and Migle as we run into town. They cheer with me and then we all burst into laughter.

The showdown was a gum-chewing challenge type of thing. We had to chew different color gumballs and then they would hand them to me and I would place them on a picture to 'Color' it in. It was extremely gross but totally worth it—We won a block party tomorrow night!

"Yah buddy! Block partay whaddup!" Tosca yells, running up to the three of us and jumping into my arms for a hug, "Ohmygod thank you soooo much for picking that, Macy!"

I laugh as begins to jump up and down with Randi, "Party harddd!" She exclaims. The green district passes by cheering and so does the yellow district. Greg and Blaine catch up to us and we all engulf into a big group hug.

"Hey good luck in the talent show tonight!" Greg says to me as we move out of our hug and begin cheering throughout the streets of Bonanza—as you can tell everyone is pumped.

"Oh God that's tonight…" I say quietly looking up at Greg with a nervous look on my face.

"You'll be fine, don't worry." He says, giving me a hug, "And don't let this whole Zach/Hunter thing ruin your night. Figure it out tomorrow." He whispers into my ear.

"Thanks Greg." I whisper back as he pulls me tighter.

"No problem Mace." He releases me and then Natasha calls me over, "See ya tonight." He says with a smile.

Greg can be a really big jerk at times but at other times he is one of the sweetest people in Bonanza and that is the Greg that I love. He's like a big brother to me, something to replace Christian when I'm away from him for the duration of my time in Bonanza.

I'm about to reach Natasha but out of the corner of my eye I see Zach standing with Brett, Campbell, and Pharaoh. I don't know if him standing there is a coincidence or if he is doing it on purpose. All I know is that I'm going to listen to Greg and not let that issue concern me tonight. Besides, I've been avoiding him up until now so he can just wait until tomorrow.

"What do ya want Tashy?" I ask, hip-bumping her as we begin to walk to our bunkhouse.

"Um we need to get you changed. Duhhh." She says, smirking at me.

"You were being serious?" I ask as we walk into the bunkhouse. Migle and Natasha both nod their heads at me. Randi and Tosca come running in too and I start laughing.

"Oh God…"

* * *

><p>"You look freaking hot." Randi says as Natasha and Migle step back from me so that Tosca and Randi can see.<p>

"Agreed." Tosca says, popping a gummy bear into her mouth. For the past thirty minutes Randi and Tosca have been sitting on the floor and seeing how many gummy bears they can throw up into the air and catch with their mouths.

They're crazy but that's why we love them.

"Should I be scared?" I ask, looking between all the girls in the room.

"No!" Natasha exclaims, she then pushes me in front of the mirror so that I can look at myself.

I'm wearing a pair of dark jean shorts and then I'm wearing the plaid shirts that we got at the last showdown and it's unbuttoned with a black cami underneath. Natasha did my hair in a headband braid and it looks really cool, "Guys, you're pretty good at this." I say, running to Natasha and Migle to give them a hug.

"We know." They say in unison, smiling.

"Let's go!" Tosca exclaims, marching out the door as we all follow her to the Saloon. A bunch of the kids are already there and Markelle is on the stage—he's the 'host'.

Tosca and Randi go to sit near the front and Migle and Natasha and I sit in the back with Greg and Blaine and D.K.

"Looking hot, Mace." Greg says, smirking at me. I roll my eyes and slap his head and he just laughs.

"What are Tosc and Randi doing?" I whisper to Natasha. She shrugs her shoulders and Migle, who heard the question, does the same, "Guess we'll have to wait and see…"

"Welcome to the first Bonanza City Talent Show!" Markelle exclaims from the stage.

I turn to Natasha with a panicked look on my face, "Ohmygod I'm freaking out. Why am I doing this? Why am I doing this?"

"Shut up!" Migle exclaims as Kelsey, the first act, walks up onto the stage.

Kelsey is playing the piano. She's really, really good…like it's scary. After her, Morgan and Markelle sing the National Anthem. They're both really good, too. Then Taylor and Leila sing Old McDonald and they use actual chickens and roosters…it's pretty funny. After them it's Campbell, and he whistles because his bird taught him how to. Then Kennedy goes onstage to dance and she's really, really funny. The whole place is basically dying of laughter by the time she's done.

"Yah Kennedy!" Natasha yells out. Surprisingly enough, her and Kennedy have actually become pretty good friends.

After Kennedy is Eric playing an original song that he wrote on the piano. Jasmine comes out after him and she sings a song that she wrote. Both of them are really good…who knew there were so many talented kids in Bonanza? Next comes Jared with some Shakespeare monologue. He had been freaking out about that more that I've been freaking out, so I'm really proud of him.

"Go Jared!" I exclaim as he finishes. He gives me a weird look and I just shrug my shoulders…that kid will never understand me.

Next is Olivia and she is doing her standup comedy routine. She seems _really _nervous in the beginning but in the end she's great. She even made some really funny jokes about how dumb Greg and Blaine are.

"Gee, thanks Olivia." Greg mutters to himself. I just laugh at him, he gets so upset about such little things.

After Olivia is Sophia playing the harmonica. She's pretty decent at it. Then there is Pharaoh and Zach and they start rapping some song. It's actually pretty good, believe it or not.

"Hey, your man can rap!" Greg whispers into my ear. I punch his arm for probably the tenth time that night and he just laughs at me.

They finish and the room bursts into applause, "Whoo-whoo!" I cheer out.

"I thought you were avoiding him." Natasha says to me, raising her eyebrow.

"I am." I say, "Ohmygod I'm freaking out. There's one more act until I sing."

"CALM DOWN!" Migle whisper-screams into my ear.

Randi and Tosca walk up onto the stage and they sit down on the ground. They have to cups and they begin to do a pattern of tapping on the cups, clapping their hands, and moving the cup (PITCH PERFECT –The movie- CUP SONG). They do it for about a minute in sync and then they finish.

"GO RANDI AND TOSCA!" I scream, jumping up from my chair and cheering loudly. The rest of the town follows me and we give them a long applause.

"Alright guys; next up is Macy singing the song 22 by T Swift!"

"Ohmygod no. I'm not doing this." I say, turning to Natasha and Migle. They roll their eyes and then basically push me out of my seat and get me walking up to the stage.

"GO MACY!" D.K. shouts out from the back of the room as I stand on the stage. I laugh and smile and then I open my mouth to sing.

_It feels like a perfect night to dress up like hipsters  
>And make fun of our exes, uh uh uh uh<br>It feels like a perfect night for breakfast at midnight  
>To fall in love with strangers uh uh uh uh<br>Yeaaaah  
>We're happy free confused and lonely at the same time<br>It's miserable and magical oh yeah  
>Tonight's the night when we forget about the deadlines, it's time uh uh<em>

_I don't know about you but im feeling 22_  
><em>Everything will be alright if you keep me next to you<em>  
><em>You don't know about me but I bet you want to<em>  
><em>Everything will be alright if we just keep dancing like we're 22, 22<em>

_It seems like one of those nights_  
><em>This place is too crowded too many cool kids<em>  
><em>It seems like one of those nights<em>  
><em>We ditch the whole scene and end up dreaming instead of sleeping<em>  
><em>Yeaaaah<em>  
><em>We're happy free confused and lonely in the best way<em>  
><em>It's miserable and magical oh yeah<em>  
><em>Tonight's the night when we forget about the heartbreaks, it's time uh uh<em>

_I don't know about you but im feeling 22_  
><em>Everything will be alright if you keep me next to you<em>  
><em>You don't know about me but I bet you want to<em>  
><em>Everything will be alright if we just keep dancing like we're 22, 22<em>

_I don't know about you, 22, 22_

_It feels like one of those nights_  
><em>We ditch the whole scene<em>  
><em>It feels like one of those nights<em>  
><em>We won't be sleeping<em>  
><em>It feels like one of those nights<em>  
><em>You look like bad news I gotta have you, I gotta have you<em>

_I don't know about you but im feeling 22_  
><em>Everything will be alright if you keep me next to you<em>  
><em>You don't know about me but I bet you want to<em>  
><em>Everything will be alright if we just keep dancing like we're 22, 22<em>

_Dancing like 22, yeah, 22, yeah yeah_

_It feels like one of those nights_  
><em>We ditch the whole scene<em>  
><em>It feels like one of those nights<em>  
><em>We won't be sleeping<em>  
><em>It feels like one of those nights<em>  
><em>You look like bad news I gotta have you, I gotta have you<em>

I finish singing and everyone in the town is basically silent. Finally Tosca pipes up, "GO MACY!" She yells out. Randi does the same and everyone in the back row begins to cheer like crazy. I begin to walk back to my seat and Zach catches my eye. He smiles at me while he claps and I smile back. As I walk back further, Hunter catches my eye. He, too, smiles and claps at me and I smile back to him.

"Good job, Macy!" Natasha screams, engulfing me in a hug as soon as I am in the back row. D.K. and Migle join in.

"I told you you'd be great." Migle says with a smile. I release myself from their arms and take a seat so I can watch Greg and Blaine.

"Did I really do okay?" I ask, looking around with a nervous look on my face. The three of them nod their heads, "Are you sure?"

"I'm positive! Now shut up and listen to Greg and Blaine." Natasha says, hitting me lightly on the arm and then turning to face the stage.

Greg and Blaine's act is extremely hilarious—almost too hilarious to put into words. They are doing a re-enactment of Romeo and Juliet…and Greg's in a dress.

"Ohmygod I wish I had my phone so I could take pictures right now." Natasha whispers to Migle and I between laughs. We nod our heads, also laughing too hard to talk. They finally finish and I'm basically crying because I'm laughing so hard.

"Well that was an _ah-mazing _talent show! See y'all tomorrow night at the block party!" Markelle shouts out, closing the show. The whole town bursts into cheers and Greg and Blaine make their way back to us.

"Ohmygod that was amazing." Natasha says, running over to Greg to give him a hug. Blaine looks a little upset but Migle walks up to him and starts talking to him, and they hug too. Natasha then walks over to Blaine after Migle is done talking to him, "Good job, buddy." She says, giving him a short hug.

D.K. and I stand there awkwardly, exchanging looks throughout the whole thing. Greg catches my eyes and I wiggle my eyebrows at him. He just rolls his eyes back and me and I smirk.

"You ready to head back to the bunk?" Natasha asks, coming over to me. I nod my head and the six of us join the mass of people leaving the Saloon.

"Don't look now, but Zachy-boy is heading out way." Migle whispers into my ear. I completely ignore the 'don't look' part and look around for Zach. I finally find him and I also spot Hunter coming over.

"Please create a distraction." I plead, "Please. Please."

Migle, Natasha, Greg, and Blaine all nod their heads.

"Ohmygod my stomach kills!" Natasha exclaims over-dramatically. I conceal my laughter and try to put on a serious face.

"C'mon Tasha, let's get you back to bunk." Migle says, placing a hand on Natasha's shoulder but also trying really hard not to laugh. I nod my head and the boys say goodnight to us and the three of us girls escape without Hunter or Zach trying to talk to me.

"Mission accomplished." I say as the three of us walk into the Blue District bunk. Tosca is sleeping over in the Yellow District bunk again and I don't really know where Olivia and Malls are.

"You can't avoid them forever, though…" Natasha says, searching through her backpack but looking over to me on my sleeping bag.

"I know…I just need some time to figure things out."

"You might wanna figure it out soon."

"No duh."


End file.
